Pride and Prejudice
by MotherBalls
Summary: AU, A revisitation of Pride and Prejudice in a Modern-day setting within the BAU, but not exactly as you know it. Focus on Hotch/Prentiss (Elizabeth/Darcy), but there will also be some JJ/Will (Jane/Bingley), and Ensemble. Rated T for now but up for a change in future chapters. (You really don't need to have read the book nor seen the movie to understand and follow.)
1. Chapter 1

**_AU, A revisitation of Pride and Prejudice in a Modern-day setting within the BAU, but not exactly as you know it._**

**A/N: **I'm back with a brand new story I've been thinking about for a while now. As you may have guessed, this story will be based on Jane Austen's _Pride & Prejudice _but will also be greatly inspired by Joe Wright's adaptation. Being a Hotly shipper, Emily Prentiss will be "my" Elizabeth Bennett and Aaron Hotchner "my" Mr Darcy. Sometimes I'll be taking a lot of liberties and will distance myself from the original story to be able to fit all the other characters from the show in the story. But I'll still try to keep most of the main plots. It will also be set in the 21st Century so obviously, there are things that won't be exactly the same. And once again, this is a revisitation of the book, not a mirroring of it.

I hope you guys enjoy and if it ever gets confusing, just let me know and I'll do my best to explain some things without revealing some major plot points.

Rated **T** for now but might be up for a change in future chapters.

_**Disclaimers:** I don't own anything, blablabla. Not the characters, nor the book, nor the movie, nor the show..._

_Enjoy!_

* * *

**_PRIDE AND PREJUDICE_**

It was 8 o'clock on a Friday night and Emily Prentiss was finally getting out of work. Indeed, she had been up since 5am, doing her best to catch up on the files she had inherited at her new job last week.

At almost 37, the smart and witty brunette had finally managed to find a job in which all her knowledge and experience stored up during her six years of management and business school at Yale were valued. So she wasn't about to complain just because she had had a few extra hours of work per day and some extra paperwork to do since the very first day she started.

Even if she was exhausted, she couldn't refuse her friends' invitation to go out for a drink to celebrate her first week at the Military and Aerospace unit. It was one of the three units of the Intelligent Platforms, which was itself a sub unit of the Home & Business Solutions, one of the biggest divisions of the Bicoastal American Union multinational corporation.

It had taken her three days to remember all the divisions.

Some of her friends she had just met last week but already felt like they had known each other for years. But others she had known since her high school graduation year. Like Jennifer Jareau and Penelope Garcia who had now been working for nearly eight years at the two other Intelligent Platforms business units of the BAU. Again, a lot of divisions.

When she arrived at the bar, they were sitting at a corner table in what seemed to be a comfortable sofa. Penelope spotted her at the entrance and waved at her, smiling big, as she always did.

Some of her fluorescent bracelets were brought to life by the subdued lights of the place. She was the eccentric of the group, apparently. Which wasn't a big surprise to Emily since she remembered all of her different attires from high school. Penelope always wore bright colors, had fluffy pencils, lots of crazy decorations all around her work desk but also her home. She dropped out of high school, days before graduation, but managed a job in the company because of her wonderful computer skills.

Beside her was Jennifer, who preferred to be called JJ. She had specialized in Communication, being extremely good at public relations and had gotten through college on a soccer scholarship. She was like a breath of fresh air, her calm and soothing character managing to temper whatever storm she would come across.

When Emily had turned 17, her parents had decided to move back to the United States so that she could graduate from a high school in the American system to then go on to College. That's attending Chatham Hall all-girls college-preparatory boarding school in Virginia that she met both JJ and Penelope. Emily was the only brunette, and her first words to the two blond girls were, "In all the other schools I attended, and God knows I've gone to plenty, blond girls tended to hate me so excuse me if I'm being cautious about you guys' intentions." The only answer she got was some fits of laughter (she never really understood why) and from then was born a great friendship.

The three young women had bonded other their differences and reasons for attending that particular school. Their troubled pasts had brought them closer, each one sharing a different but just as deep relationship with one another. They had done their best to keep in touch when they parted ways and after almost two decades, they were finally back to living in the same state.

Emily smiled back, walking to her friends, when someone took her by the hand and made her twirl along with the rhythm of the music. She was surprised at first but soon started to laugh when she noticed who had gotten her on the little dance floor.

Derek Morgan. Or Statuesque god of sculpted thunder, as Penelope would often refer to him. He was the one who reviewed her job application and spent a month tutoring her before she signed her contract. In that period of thirty days, she had learned that behind his strong arms and impressive physique was a real sweetie.

"Hey, Princess!" He greeted her as they made their way to the table, dancing.

"Morgan, stop that. PG's gonna get jealous."

"Oh, she knows she's my favorite," he simply answered, winking at the object of his affection.

"I do," was all the blond said as she took another sip of her cocktail.

The group laughed lightly, making some room for the new comer. JJ was in the corner, Penelope on her left, Derek retook his seat by her side and Emily went to the other end.

"Where are Reid and Dave?" She asked before waving to a waiter to take her order.

"He's the one playing the piano," said JJ. "He's been over there ever since we got here. And Dave is standing by his sides, amazed at how quick he learned that many music pieces."

Derek sighed.

"I don't know why he'd still be surprised by the things that pretty boy can do. We don't call him genius for nothing, right?"

The friends agreed by clinking their glasses and Emily ordered her usual glass of wine.

"I'm glad he went to that Share Your Job Day at the VIA*," she added softly. "He really shared a connection with that little boy."

"I'm so sad I missed that!" Penelope lamented. "And so disappointed in all of you sweet little dumdums for not recording it."

"We've said we're sorry already, Pen, but you get to hear him now," JJ offered. "What's the little boy's name already?"

"Sammy," Reid answered, suddenly appearing with a plate of fries in hand, and Rossi not far behind him.

"Hey you!" Emily exclaimed, standing up and taking him in a warm embrace. "Thanks for playing _Piano Man_," she said loud enough only for him to hear.

"I'm glad you liked it, Emily. I still need to work on it though."

She just smiled at him. He sat beside Penelope, she followed and Rossi took the last spot by her side. She greeted him with a quick peck on the cheek.

"What makes you so happy, bella?" He chuckled.

"It's the weekend!" Her voice was cheerful. "I'll be able to sleep in and not get out of my apartment before Monday morning." She took a sip of wine. "That's all I've been waiting for since that guy, uh, what's his name? Anderson? Anyway. Since he showed me my desk and dropped a hundred of files on it."

Dave passed an arm around her shoulder, rubbed it empathically to then let it rest on the sofa behind her. He had taken a liking to the new addition to his team. He was glad she had been chosen and was really pleased with the work she had been doing so far.

She was younger but had had many different experiences during her life, which meant she had a lot to give to their unit, without forgetting how impressive her resume was. He had had no doubt that she would fit in, even though she had been handed to him without warning or any prior meeting. Morgan had gotten along pretty well with her, and he had appreciated her sense of humor and wit. She joked around but got her work done on time. And as far as he was concerned, that's all that mattered.

As they chatted away, Emily couldn't help but notice how good she felt surrounded by those people. She couldn't have dreamed of a better group to work with. And it wasn't just about work. They all got along so well, and sure, even though she had known JJ and Penelope for years, she had some reservations at first, not sure if they were going to welcome her that easily in what seemed to be a very closed team.

On her first day, Anderson had tried to intimidate her, saying she had been given the job because of her parents' new investments in the company. But she knew it couldn't be true because they had no idea of her new job when she called to announce them the good news.

She had tried to fight it at first. She didn't want to work in the same company because she knew that the shadow of the great Elizabeth Prentiss would follow her everywhere. Her parents had managed to open and to keep afloat four new BAU Money Banks in Europe, and were now providing to the BAU Healthcare. Her mother was weeks away from being appointed CEO of that new division.

Needless to say that Emily had known that company her whole life. She had assisted to dinner parties, galas, board meetings, she had seen her parents shine and succeed. Her mother was her biggest role model. But she didn't want to be known as Elizabeth and Richard Prentiss' daughter. She wanted to build a name for herself. She wanted recognition for her hard work, for everything she had accomplished to be where she was now, and for where she would get in the future.

"Hey, Prentiss," Derek took her out of her reverie. "Are your parents still in London?"

"I guess. I haven't heard from them in a while," she simply answered, not too fond of the subject.

"How do you know her parents?" Reid asked Morgan, surprised that he would mention Emily's family, knowing that they only knew each other for no more than a month and a half.

"Oh boy, the real question is, how don't you know her parents?!" He laughed. As smart as he was, Spencer would sometimes miss the most evident things.

"Prentiss! Of course!" It had finally sunk in. "You must have moved around a lot then?" He asked but before she could answer, he kept going. "They opened banks in the UK, Russia, Switzerland, Sweden and more. Since you're 36…" he quickly did the math, "you must speak Russian and-"

She cut him off.

"Is this a dinner to celebrate my one-week survival at the company or a get to know your coworkers with a hundred question dinner?" Emily joked. "But yes, we did. Well, mostly in Europe and some Middle East countries." She took some fries from Reid's plate before continuing, her mouth full. "I hated it and somewhat resented my parents for it. But as I got older I learned to appreciate the opportunities it brought me."

"And it is so elegantly said. I'm sure you got all that grace and delicacy from the European aristocracy," Rossi playfully pointed out, smiling at the younger woman by his side.

She then retaliated by hitting him on the shoulder, playfully.

"No," she finally said after faking a laugh and eating two more fries. "I got it from Italian business men at dinner meetings."

Dave gasped feigning offence, and his friends chuckled at him. And before he could retort anything, their phones started ringing one after the other, signaling them of what was probably a group email. Indeed, they were all being notified of the BAU's new acquisition of SmartSignal, Inc. And before anyone could comment on it, Emily received another email.

"Why does she get two of them?" Penelope joked as she leaned over to try and read what was on her friend's screen.

"It's from my mom," the brunette explained. "She's saying that there's gonna be a gala tomorrow to celebrate the new acquisition and to present her new projects for BAU Healthcare."

"Ooh! That's nice! Are we all invited? Who's going?"

"Well, apparently yes, we are all to attend but I don't get why it wasn't mentioned in the other email…"

And as if the God of technology had heard her, all of their cells rang again.

"Here it is!" JJ exclaimed.

"To celebrate the new acquisition of our corporation, bla bla bla, Aaron Hotchner, the CEO of the BAU, has the pleasure to invite you to a commemorating gala, bla bla bla, free drinks, free food, dress code is black tie as always, bla bla bla," Morgan read aloud. "Sounds nice!"

"And here goes my stay-in weekend…"

"Don't be a party pooper!" Penelope chastised.

"Yeah, I guess you're right. I haven't had the occasion to dress up in a long time and God knows I'd never turn down free food and drinks."

"That's the Emily I love."

As she finished reading her mother's email, JJ noticed her raised eyebrow.

"What does she say?"

"Oh, uh," Emily cleared her throat. "She mentions that Aaron Hotchner will be there and that he is bringing a friend of his, William LaMontagne Jr and that she hopes I will get acquainted with him because she's heard he is very charming. Ugh."

"We work for Aaron Hotchner and we've never actually seen him around here," Reid commented.

"That's all you're getting from what I just said?"

"There's nothing wrong about your mother trying to set you up. Mine does it every time I go home," Morgan tried to reassure her.

"I've heard of LaMontagne and I've seen pictures of him," JJ added. "And I can tell you that he _is_ charming."

"You should get acquainted with him then."

"Rossi, you've been around for much longer than any of us," said Reid, oblivious to the dirty look the older man was sending him and to the conversation that was going on, "you must know him, right? His parents have owned the company for a long time. I heard that he never asked for their help or took advantage of their position to get a job."

"I do know him. And yes, he's worked his way up. He's a serious kid and now that his parents are gone, he's taken great care of the BAU."

"But I heard he no longer is the majority shareholder though."

"Yeah, after his father died he had to sale some of his share."

"Erin Strauss bought it, right?" Emily asked, finding herself suddenly interested by the subject.

"Yes, she did. He sold her John Cooley's parts."

"Who is he?" Reid asked. "I've never heard of him."

"He was a family friend. If I'm not mistaken, he grew up in the Hotchner household but then he lost everything after the sale and had to get a job elsewhere."

"He lost everything because of Hotchner?" Emily now sounded appalled by the personage.

"Yes, well, I don't know the whole story. You'd have to ask one of them. Or both," he then added after a few seconds. "I'm not sure Cooley has done much to pick himself up."

"Let's not talk about money tonight," Penelope interrupted them, sensing that Emily was going to add something to the conversation. "We'll have tons of old grey men in suits, no offence Rossi, speculating about it and throwing the word dollar around more than people throw coins in the Trevi Fountain tomorrow night. Again, no offence Rossi."

"None taken." He rose his glass up emphatically and then emptied it.

"OMG!" She suddenly exclaimed.

Reid who was drinking beside her almost drowned in his own glass.

"Oh, sorry, honey." She rubbed his back and when he signaled her with his free hand that he was okay, she continued. "Today is Friday!"

"Yes, it is." JJ answered, unimpressed.

"And tomorrow is Saturday!"

"Then comes Sunday," Emily finished.

"Very interesting and controversial documentary." It was Rossi's turn to tease Garcia.

"My point being," she emphasized on her words, "we gotta go shopping tomorrow morning!"

"Stop creaming, baby girl. But you're right. That's pretty short notice."

"And here goes my sleeping in time…" Emily grieved. "Guess Aaron Hotchner doesn't always go by the book, huh?"

"What did I say about being a party pooper?"

"I can't remember. It was at least four glasses ago." She winked at her friend.

"Smartass."

"And tight."

"Okay. That's enough. I'm going home!" Reid exclaimed, putting both of his hands on the table and closing his eyes.

"He's so cute when he gets uncomfortable," with that Emily pinched his cheek.

"Morgan, Rossi, help me here!"

"Man, how many times do I have to tell you that it's dangerous to get between those two when they're drinking?"

"He's got a point there, kid."

And as they talked, they both stood up, JJ following Morgan and trying to drag Garcia by the hand.

"Come on. I want to go shopping tomorrow but we won't stand it if we don't get at least 7 hours of sleep so you gals better move those booties of yours."

"JJ's using her mom voice, we better hurry," Penelope whispered very loudly.

"And she gotta get her pretty on for William!"

"Okay, that's enough. I'm taking her home," Rossi announced, passing his arms around Emily's waist.

"You know nothing's gonna happen, right?" She said, maybe too close from his face as he turned his head away from her.

"Unfortunately, yes, I know." After she wrapped an arm around his shoulders, he quickly added, "I also know you're not nearly as drunk nor tipsy as you're acting."

She looked up at him, letting her head roll to the side and sighed.

"I know," it almost sounded like a moan. "I'm just so tired."

"It's okay. You'll be home soon."

He made sure that all his other friends were safely getting home before making his way to his car, with an exhausted Emily in his arms.

Even though her brain had worked itself out today, and this entire week if she were to be honest, she couldn't stop thinking about Aaron Hotchner and John Cooley. She wondered if the former was as serious and cold as people said.

She wouldn't have to wait too long for an answer anyway. Tomorrow, she was finally going to meet her new boss and see her parents again. But for now, Emily was just going to think of what kind of dress she would wear and how many cups of coffee she would need to get through the day…

**TBC...**

* * *

*VIA: Virginia Institute of Autism.

**2A/N:** So, what did you guys think of that first chapter? I'd like to hear your opinions and know if you're interested in reading more?  
Next chapter will probably be the gala, therefor Emily and Aaron's first meeting! I promise it'll be interesting.

Please review and thanks for reading! x


	2. Chapter 2

**A/N: **Here comes the gala and Aaron and Emily finally meet! There are also other characters introduced but I'll leave you guys to discover it.  
I apologize if there are any typos or else, I haven't had time to proof read it but I wanted to post it because it's been almost a week already since I gave you the first chapter. I'll re-read it tomorrow and fix whatever might need fixing.

Rated **T** for now but might be up for a change in future chapters.

_**Disclaimers:** I don't own anything, blablabla. Not the characters, nor the book, nor the movie, nor the show..._

_Enjoy!_

* * *

**Chapter 2**

At 7:30pm sharp, someone rang the bell. Emily quickly put a last pin in her hair and ran to the door, her strappy Jimmy Choo silver sandals in one hand and her tiny white purse in the other. She had been expecting Penelope and JJ for a few minutes already, her friends not being known for their punctuality.

She wore a very soft one-shoulder, sleeveless, ivory, chiffon dress. It came down to her knees and a delicate ruffle beading came to accentuate her waistline just above her right hip. Her hair was pulled back in a high bun and she had put on very light makeup; her eyelashes as curved and as long as ever, and she would later complete it with some light dark red lipstick.

But when she opened the door, she was surprised to see who was standing there.

"Morgan!" She gave him a quick one-arm hug. "Where are PG and JJ? I've been waiting."

"In the car. Garcia designated me as your driver and when I came to pick her up, she decided to change shoes just when we were walking out the door." Emily nodded knowingly, and he took a step back to fully admire her. "Wow, you look gorgeous, princess."

"I hope so; it took us three hours to find that dress." She gave him a light peck on the cheek, "thank you."

He winked at her and couldn't help but give a quick glance behind her.

"So, this is where you live. It's… _big_."

Emily grunted.

"I know. It's my parents' actually. They're renting it to me." Seeing Morgan's questioning face, she decided to elaborate. "I know it sounds weird and they would have let me stay here for free, but I really want to do that whole BAU thing on my own. And even though I'm not paying full price, it's just until I find something tinier and more affordable. Because really, it's a waste, such a beautiful and spacious place for someone like me, knowing that I spend most of time at work."

"If you want a roommate, I'm right here! And the view is _great_."

"Oh, you'll have to put your name on the list cause Garcia and JJ have already applied for it."

She winked at him and he chuckled.

"Let's go," she said, putting the key on the other side of the door, ready to close it.

"You're not putting on your shoes first?"

"No, I'll put them in the car. Those poor babies are going to suffer all night so I'm trying to give them as long of a break as possible."

Morgan didn't comment and just smiled at her nodding his head. As they made their way downstairs and to the car, he couldn't but wonder what a life with Emily would be like. He knew that she wasn't attracted to him, or at least not past a physical attraction. Sure, they had a lot in common and they got along pretty well, but it would probably never get passed that. He loved her quirks and so very unique humor, her integrity and her fidelity. They worked really well as coworkers, friends, and he could even say that he loved her as one of his sisters. That's probably why it would never work as something other than a platonic relationship.

And if he got to always have her by his side, as a partner in crime, he was perfectly fine with that. He would never want to risk what they had for something he knew had no future.

"Here you go, princess." He opened the passenger door for her and extended a hand to help her inside, which she gladly accepted.

"Ooh! I get the front seat?" Emily rejoiced, and then clapped her hands.

"You do," answered Penelope. "It's your first gala after all."

"Not really," the brunette argued.

"As our beautiful furry friend, slash, coworker? Yes, it is. So shut your juicy, red lips and enjoy the ride!"

And that's exactly what she did. The reception was at the Cooper Vineyards, a little forty miles away from Emily's place. There was supposed to be a half-hour wine testing at 8pm and she was really worried that they were going to miss it. So she rushed Morgan to take the interstate, and the ride went down without a hitch.

When they arrived, people were already dancing, drinking, and some food had been laid out. Morgan quickly made his way to Reid, whom he spotted in a corner, a glass in hand, and with just his shadow for only company.

Penelope, Emily, and JJ decided to go sit somewhere in the ballroom after having almost come across the Prentiss on their way to the wine tasting room. Emily told her friends she wasn't tipsy enough just yet to go address her parents and the girls hadn't argued.

The place was tastefully decorated in warm colors, the lights subtly subdued wherever there were people dancing. A small band was playing some refined music, neither too loud nor too incommoding so one didn't need to shout to be heard.

From where they were sitting, they had a good view of the rest of the room and could peacefully gossip about whatever was happening around them. JJ wore an elegant black dress with her hair up in a loose bun. Penelope, whose eccentric personality always took over, had decorated a dark green gown with a three quarter sleeve short red jacket and held her hair high with pink feathers. She had made it pretty clear that she was there to enjoy herself.

"As soon as this song ends, we're going to the dance floor, ma ladies."

"It'll be without me. At least for now," Emily said, taking a look around. "Do you guys know if Rossi is coming?"

"He told me he wouldn't because he's going on a date," JJ answered.

"Oh."

"You sound disappointed, Em. Is there something you're hiding from us?"

Just as JJ finished her sentence, the song ended and Penelope stood up.

"That's my cue. JJ, please tell me whatever her answer is to that very interesting question. See ya!"

And with that, Penelope was off to find a dancing partner, or partners, for the night.

"So?" JJ pressed.

Emily played with the bracelet on her left wrist before looking up.

"He's very charming."

"And much older."

"I know," Emily whined. "That's not what I meant."

"So please, enlighten me."

She sighed.

"It's just that… There's that thing about him, you know, which makes you feel good whenever he's around. I'm not interested in him the way you think I am," she tried to clarify when she saw the look her friend was giving her. "I don't get to see my dad much so I guess I found in Dave someone to confide in, you know."

"Oh, now I see what you mean. Yes, he's a very reassuring presence."

"Exactly!"

"So there are no underlying feelings there?"

"Oh God, no. Sure, he is handsome, and if he were… fifteen years younger I wouldn't mind," they laughed a little. "But no, I don't have that kind of father issue."

"Good." After a few seconds, JJ added, "so why didn't you want to go say hello to your parents if you miss your father?"

"Ugh. It's just that, uh, the last time I saw them, I was in a relationship and they were, you know, quite fond of him. And then my mom talked about that LaMontagne guy, who I'm sure is nice, but I absolutely hate whenever she tries to set me up and my father, he doesn't go along but he also doesn't stop her so it's better that way."

JJ nodded and let go of the subject.

"Now, if none of those guys invite you to dance, then I don't know what beauty is anymore."

"Oh, stop it," she said, blushing slightly. "We'll dance together if none of them dares asking us."

"They're not worth it anyway."

"They're not _all_ bad," she replicated, rolling her eyes at her brunette friend.

"Humorless poppycocks, in my limited experience," she joked.

JJ raised her head as if she were trying to find someone in the crowd.

"One of these days, Em, someone will catch your eye and then you'll have to watch your tongue."

"We'll see about that…" She muttered, not loud enough for her friend to hear.

"Look who's here…"

The band subtly stopped playing and people took a break from dancing to turn to the two men who had just entered the room, as well as Andrew Anderson standing not far behind them.

"Who's that?" Emily asked.

"William LaMontagne is the one on the left."

"And with the quizzical frown?"

"Aaron Hotchner. But I don't know why Anderson is with them."

"He's LaMontagne's assistant. Non officially."

The two women jumped, surprised by their friend standing behind them.

"How do you know that?" JJ asked Penelope.

"I looked it up," she answered as if it was the most obvious thing in the world. "Apparently, he tries to accompany him wherever he goes when he's in town. But what he really wants, is to get closer to Hotchner."

Everyone was silent and all eyes were on the three latecomers. Hotchner and LaMontagne were both looking very dapper in their black tuxedoes and perfect bow ties.

After a few seconds of silence, the music started again and people went back to dancing.

"That was awkward," Emily noted. "I thought he was gonna say something."

"Em," JJ said, posing a hand on her friend's arm. "I think your parents are coming our way."

And before she could even open her mouth to say something, the brunette heard her father.

"Emily!"

Her lips couldn't help but curl up in a smile and she promptly turned around.

"Father!"

As he circled her in his arms in an affectionate embrace, Emily held on to him and inhaled deeply. After all those years, his cologne was still the same, reminding her of everything good in her life. It reminded her of the times he comforted her after a bad fall or her first attempt at riding a bike, of milestones as her high school and college graduation, but also of the most ordinary everyday life moments as the goodnight kisses and bedtime stories. There was no other place in the world where Emily felt as safe as in her father's arms, and there was no other smell that made her feel as secure as his cologne.

As soon as he let go, the rough sensation of being exposed and prone to all of the world's madness and insecurity took over her for a few seconds. But she shook it off right away and turned to her mother, kissing her on both cheeks.

"Honey," the older woman let out in a breath. "How have you been?"

"Wonderful, mother." She smiled and reached for both of her friends' hands. "Mother, father, you remember JJ and Penelope? We went to high school together."

"Oh sure," they said together before complementing both women.

"You two work for the BAU?" Mister Prentiss asked.

"We do," JJ smiled.

"Small world, huh?" The other woman added, smiling as well.

"Indeed."

They went on to small talks, catching up on their lives, Emily having so much to tell them about her month of tutoring with Morgan and her first week of work at the Intelligent Platforms.

"And you've never got to talk to Aaron Hotchner?" Elizabeth Prentiss inquired after hearing her daughter's account.

"No, I have not."

"He doesn't come to our building a lot," Penelope intervened. "To be quite frank with you, this is the first time I see him at one of our unit's galas."

"Then why don't you want us to introduce you to him, Emily?" Her mother questioned.

"You want me to meet LaMontagne. I know what you're trying to do, mother and you know how much I despise it."

"I just thought you'd like to meet him because he is quite an interesting and bright man."

"Mom, I appreciate your concern about my love life, and I am certain you have good intentions in mind, but I really don't need that right now." Emily tried to get her point across as diplomatically as possible, but at seeing the look on her mother's face, she knew she had to try something else. "But I'm sure JJ will love to get acquainted with him!"

"Oh really?" Elizabeth asked, turning to her daughter's friend. "He's easy on the eye, isn't he?"

Jennifer blushed, neither agreeing nor disagreeing with Mrs. Prentiss' statement but exposing her opinion anyway. She then glared at her friend who simply shrugged at her apologetically.

"If you would excuse me," Penelope spoke up, knowing where this was all going. "I'm going back to the dance floor. I can see Derek getting surrounded."

Emily cackled.

"If you see Reid, tell him I'll be looking for him later. I want to dance with him."

Her friend nodded and left, laughing imagining Reid's face when she would tell him that.

"Now, follow me, girls. And you too, Rick."

They made their way through the crowd, Emily's mother leading the way, and her father not far behind. When she saw him grab a glass of wine when they passed the buffet, she mirrored him. Free drinks, she remembered, one of the main reasons why she was there tonight.

"William, Aaron," Emily heard her mother say, in that unique tone of hers, which inspired both respect and affection.

"Ma'am," the two gentlemen saluted at the same time.

"I'd like you to meet my daughter, Emily, and her friend, Jennifer."

"It's a pleasure," William answered, gazing at both women, and his eyes subtly lingering on JJ.

Emily could feel her friend getting closer to her; obviously self-conscious about all the attention the handsome man was giving her. To give her some courage, she rested her hand on her lower back while they listened to her mother chatting with LaMontagne.

She noticed that Hotchner didn't say a word and just kept on nodding when appropriate. He had that frown that never left his face, not even when he attempted a smile. She couldn't decide if he was simply the kind of person to listen to everything and everyone very carefully to then provide his opinion, or if he really just did not care about whatever her mother was saying, which was probably her entire curriculum, as she always did.

"We are going to let you get to know each other better. There are still some people I need to greet."

Her mother's voice took her out of her reverie. She waited for her and her father to say goodbye to the others and when JJ started talking to Will, she stood on the side with her parents.

"It was nice to see you guys," she said, smiling warmly.

Her mother took her in her arms, and even though she was slightly taken aback at first, she gladly returned the embrace.

"We don't see you enough, honey. We should work on that."

"We should indeed." And she meant it. This sounded like a promise and she would make sure to keep it.

After parting with her parents, she went back to JJ's side to make sure she hadn't melted from LaMontagne's intense stare. She was then pleasantly surprised to see that they were chatting quite easily and that her friend was finally at ease in the conversation.

As they went off to dance together, she was left alone with Hotchner. He didn't address a word to her. She wanted to talk to him, to try to break the ice. But he seemed completely oblivious of her presence as he sipped his glass of wine.

They were standing so close to each other that she could feel the warmth of his body. Unconsciously, her head tilted to the side. As she breathed in, his perfume overcame her nostrils and her eyes fell close. She could get used to it…

Remembering where she was, she shook her head, took a sip of her glass and then rested it on the table beside her.

"Great vintage, huh?" She blurted out suddenly, not standing the awkward silence between them anymore.

As she expected, he didn't answer. So after a few seconds, she decided to leave. But then, she felt a hand on her arm, which stopped her from taking another step.

"You shouldn't leave your glass unattended. That's not very safe."

His voice was much deeper and lower than she thought. It sent a chill down her spine and made her turn back to him. She stared at his hand on her arm.

It felt hot. In fact, it was almost burning. The direct contact between his strong hand and her arm was oddly pleasant. She could feel that his skin was rough at some places, as if he did a lot of manual work. Which seemed quite strange since she thought that he had never, in his life, worked outside of an office.

Her stare went from his hand to his face. And as soon as their eyes met, he looked away, let go of her arm as if it was on fire and took an almost unnoticeable step back, but she didn't miss it.

"I'm not thirsty anymore," she snapped back and left him there, standing alone.

His words didn't match his actions. He had sounded almost concerned but then, he had let go off her with what looked like such disdain. She couldn't determine his personality and quickly decided that he wasn't worth her getting a headache over him.

During the next hour, she had sat down at a table and had watched JJ dance with William a few times, both looking very captivated by each other. Spencer had sat by her side, keeping her company.

They took advantage of that time together to know each other better. They discovered they had a lot in common, especially their fascination for _Solaris_ and their poker skills.

In their group of friends, Reid was probably the biggest mystery she had yet to solve. He was so reserved and discreet that she never knew what was going on in his mind. He knew so many random things, so many trivia and statistics. Being younger and more intelligent than all of them, she sometimes thought that when he kept silent, it was because they bored him.

But she discovered soon enough that he was actually so socially awkward that he rarely knew how to act around people, even those he knew for years now. So when she managed to easily connect with him and when they shared such a strong bond in such a short time, she felt both honored and privileged.

As they were concluding their talk about how fruit flies self-medicated with alcohol (she had started reading as much trivia as possible to keep up with him), she recognized a voice coming from behind her.

"I'm not dancing, Will. You know I hate it and I don't like to socialize either." She discreetly turned around and saw that it was indeed Aaron talking to William. She then spotted JJ at the other end of the room, chatting with Penelope and Derek.

"Come on, you should have some fun and loosen up a bit," William insisted. "There are some nice people here."

"I'm not here to make friends with my employees. Besides, you were dancing with who seems to be the most decent and intelligent woman in the room," Aaron said as he looked at JJ.

"Oh, she definitely is an interesting woman, yes. But her friend, you know, Elizabeth Prentiss' daughter, she's very nice, too. Maybe you should get to know her, or at least try to talk to her."

"Really?" He threw a quick glance at Emily before turning back to his friend. "She probably got her job because of her parents' relations. I don't see anything interesting about her. You should go back to your partner instead of trying to change my mind. I'm just gonna stay here and enjoy some more wine."

William listened to him and went looking for Jennifer. Emily tried not to let his words hurt her feelings, but it still got to her that people would think that she was incapable of getting a job without her parents' help.

"Don't worry, Em," she heard Spencer say. "We all know how hard you worked to get here and that's all that matter. When he'll see how much you've accomplished for his company, he'll be wishing he hadn't talked about you that way."

She smiled at her friend and stood up, taking his hand in hers.

"Come on, pretty boy. Let's dance!"

They joined the rest of their group and they all enjoyed the music together, taking over the dance floor. It had been a long time since she had last had that much fun at a gala.

Despite Hotchner's harsh words, she was glad she had attended the party. It made her feel like she was really part of the unit. It made her feel that she really fitted in and that they had really accepted her. They enjoyed having her around, and she loved being a part of their group. She felt like she could finally be herself.

During the rest of the evening, she felt Hotchner's eyes following her, or maybe she was imagining it. But when JJ had stopped dancing with William and they were saying their goodbyes after exchanging their numbers, he made his way toward them.

"JJ, I think it's time to go now," Emily spoke aloud, making her friend understand that she wanted to leave. Unfortunately for her, she wasn't the only one who heard.

"You have someone to take you home?" Hotchner asked, out of nowhere, his tone as sharp as before. "You've been drinking, you shouldn't drive."

She debated answering him, but when she saw JJ leave with Spencer and Penelope, she noticed that Derek was waiting for her by the door.

"I can handle myself, thanks." She finally answered. "Goodbye, Will."

After he nodded at her, she joined Morgan and left, her arm looped in his. She didn't need to look back to know that Hotchner was glaring at her. And she was right; he wouldn't take his eyes away from her. Even after the door closed behind her, he stared at it for some time, as if he was expecting her to come back.

Outside, Emily got into the car with her friends and almost wished that she would never see him again.

**TBC...**

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******2A/N:** I hope you guys like it! Please let me know by reviewing? I would very much appreciate it.  
**  
**I'll do my best to post a chapter per week! x


	3. Chapter 3

**A/N:** Guys! I'd like to thank all of you who reviewed, added the story to your favorites and followed it. It means a lot to me and it is so nice to know that this story is welcomed with some enthusiasm.

Now, I know this chapter is quite short but I've been behind on my schedule this week and didn't have time to finish it for today. So I decided to cut it in two not to leave you guys hanging for to long. It's not much, but it's something, and hopefully, the second part will be posted before Wednesday. But I'm not making any promises! Also, there might be some typos that I'll fix later, sorry...

That is all. I'll leave you guys to hopefully enjoy this third chapter. And without further ado…

Rated **T** for now but might be up for a change in future chapters.

_**Disclaimers:** I don't own anything, blablabla. Not the characters, nor the book, nor the movie, nor the show..._

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**Chapter 3**

As the minute and hour hands approached the 12, Emily stood and sighed, making her way to the elevator. This second week of work hadn't started as frantically as the first had, which strangely annoyed her. She had wanted to make a good impression so badly that what should have normally been done in three weeks of work, she had done it in one.

Now, after spending two hours sitting at her desk and looking for something to do, she finally understood why Derek had advised her to slow down. Even if she finished early, she wouldn't be able to leave work until 5pm sharp, so there was obviously no point in overdoing herself.

Her day would soon start to look up though, because Emily had received a call from JJ inviting her to lunch. The brunette first found it quite unusual because they always had lunch together on workdays so she didn't really get why she would call to confirm.

Then she remembered the gala and how close JJ and William LaMontagne had been during the entire night. There was probably something going on and JJ would surely tell her about it.

The girl was a real heartbreaker. Well, not exactly because she didn't do it on purpose, but her good looks and frail appearance sure attracted every man, or most of them, whose attention would be caught by her golden hair and delicate features. Unfortunately, it also attracted losers and jerks of all kinds, and that was one of the main reasons why Emily prayed that LaMontagne wasn't one of those.

She pushed open the door of the building's cafeteria and instantly spotted her friend. She was sitting in the far end of the room, beside a window and was reading something.

With some quick steps, Emily reached her and gently put a hand on her shoulder.

"Hey, JJ," she smiled.

"You're here!" It was the only answer she got as the blond quickly closed her files and put them aside. "I have so many things to tell you, you have no idea!"

"I think I could guess, actually," she laughed.

"Go pick up your food, chop chop!" She gesticulated with her hands, pushing her friend away.

They had little time before the others arrived which only reassured Emily's theory that what she had to tell her was quite interesting and of a private nature.

The food wasn't that bad at the cafeteria but it wasn't of the greatest quality. Emily would usually cook for herself every evening and save something for lunch on the next day but with the exhausting rhythm she had imposed herself, she hadn't had time to get back to her old habit yet.

It was all very organized, clearly showing that the company took great care of maintaining their employees in good shape and healthy. There were signs everywhere saying the usual, "5-A-Day: eat five servings of fruit and vegetables!", "Less Sugar & Salt", "Avoid Fried Food", etcetera, etcetera. Of course, not many people followed those advices but Emily tried to stick to it as much as possible.

After picking a low-fat chicken Caesar salad, a bottle of water, some bread, and an orange, she decided that she deserved some chocolate for working so hard last week and rewarded herself with a Snickers bar that she would eat later as a mid-afternoon snack.

She made her way back to the table, holding her tray in one hand, and trying to put the chocolate bar in her jeans' pocket. JJ picked up on it as soon as she saw her.

"Don't try to hide it, honey. I won't judge," she said as she took a bar of the same brand from her jacket and hold it up for her friend to see.

"Good cause I was afraid I was gonna have to share with you," Emily simply said as she took a seat. "So. Spill it. What's making you all giddy?"

The blond woman took her fork in hand and played with her potatoes.

"Don't you think that Will is a real gentleman?" She asked after a while and somewhat timidly. "Intelligent, good-humored…" her voice trailed off.

"You guys are on a nickname basis already? Mmh, interesting." She was being playful but the glare JJ gave her quickly calmed her down. "He _seems_ to be all that, yes. And handsome, rich…"

"You know perfectly well that I do not believe that relationships should be driven by thoughts of money," JJ contested. "It has to be about more than just good looks and wealth."

Emily stared deep into those blue eyes, her lips curled up into a faint smile, and then she started eating.

Of course she knew all that, she was just goodheartedly teasing her friend. Even though a man shouldn't be a woman's priority in life, contrarily to what her mother tended to say whenever she was tired of her job, there were little things that Emily wanted more than both JJ's and Penelope's happiness. And if finding love could help with that, she would make sure that they would find it with men worthy of their affection.

"Do you think he really liked me?" JJ finally asked since her friend remained silent.

"Honey," Emily cajoled and put her hand on top of JJ's. "When he wasn't dancing with you, he was staring at you. And even though, believe me, I'm not an expert; those are signs that do not lie. But I give you leave to like him. You've been fond of much stupider men before," and before her friend could argue, she raised a finger to silence her. "You gotta admit that you're inclined to like people in general. Sometimes it feels like all the world is good and agreeable in your eyes."

JJ snorted. "Not Aaron Hotchner. I still cannot believe what he said about you."

It might have seemed like a big room, but his words had circled around pretty fast. Penelope was, of course, the first one to hear about it, she had then shared it with her friends to make sure that Emily didn't hear it by senseless people. JJ knew that some other employees doubted her friend's honesty and hard work to arrive where she was now.

But somehow, the fact that their boss didn't believe in her integrity, it saddened her. She wanted her friend to be recognized for her brains, not her family name.

"I'd more easily forgive his vanity if he hadn't offended mine," Emily assured, not one to be brought down by those accusations she was now used to. "I doubt I'll ever speak to him again anyway."

"That's the spirit!"

The voice came from behind them and when they turned around, Penelope was standing there with a tray in hands, and Morgan and Spencer not far behind.

"I thought you guys would never come down," Emily said as they all took a seat around the table.

"I was trying to teach Spencer a new trick on the computer but sweet Derek got in the way."

"_I_ got in the way?"

"Fine, I admit!" Penelope raised her hand in defeat. "I tried to use him as my guinea pig."

"Okay, that's enough," JJ cut in. "I don't think I want to know."

"No, you really don't," Reid insisted, grunting.

A laugh made its way around the table and their meal went on with other random conversations here and there.

"JJ," Derek spoke up after a while. "You gonna see that LaMontagne guy again?"

A subtle blush colored her cheeks.

"I did, uh, give him my number after he asked but he hasn't called me yet."

"I'm sure he will," Spencer offered with a friendly smile.

They all knew he had had a crush on JJ at some point when they first started working and going out all together. He wasn't very good at hiding that he was attracted to her but they had given it a try and it just wasn't meant to be. They worked really well as friends, but beyond that, it would never work. And Spencer had come around to it, eventually.

As JJ's phone went off, they all turned to her.

"Is it him?" Penelope asked, before the ringing even stopped. "If it is, I'm kissing Spencer on the mouth. And Derek," she added quickly.

"Sorry Pen, won't be for today," JJ spoke up after looking at the text she had just received, and Reid slowly stopped blushing. "It's Anderson, actually."

"Ugh," Emily grunted. "What does he want?"

"He's asking me to play with him on Saturday afternoon."

"Play what? What's happening on Saturday afternoon?"

"Oh right, you haven't been to one of our monthly afternoon activities between colleagues yet."

"Our what?" She sounded more and more appalled by that Saturday afternoon.

"Once a month, we spend the afternoon together doing things like sports, art crafts, or whatever hobby we can enjoy together," Spencer explained.

"And why do we have to do that?"

"The boss thinks it can bring us closer together, and make our work environment less tense, more pleasant and friendly."

"That's the stupidest thing I've ever heard!"

"Yeah, you just go along with the flow here," JJ reasoned. "You'll see new things happening every now and then. That's how Aaron Hotchner does it even though Saturday night was the first time he paid us a visit. I don't know if he's trying to difference himself from his dad or if it's just his personality, but he does enjoy shaking things up and coming up with new crazy and out-of-nowhere activities to make sure we don't get too lazy." She winked at her impishly.

"What I think," Derek intervened, "is that he took that whole Japanese exercising before work thing much to seriously when he went there. And since he knew there was no way anyone would show up an hour early every day to do yoga, he found another way to mess with our lives."

"It's actually nice…"

"Spence, don't," JJ pleaded.

"And what do you play with Anderson, JJ?" Emily asked.

"We played tennis together last month and we were actually good together so he's asking if I wanna play again this Saturday."

"Oh goodie!" The brunette clapped her hands. "I'll get to sit and watch Anderson sweat his ass off." When she felt her friends' dubious looks on her, she clarified. "I'll get to see him suffer in that 86 degree weather we're supposed to have for a few more days."

"I'll be playing too, you know."

"I know and I'm sorry for you. But the idea is just too enjoyable."

"Slow down, cuppy cake. We have to spend the afternoon with people from our unit so you won't have that pleasure."

"Yeah, princess. It'll be just you, Rossi, and I. And of course, all the others."

"Where's Dave, by the way?" Emily wondered.

"Probably with his new girlfriend."

"So first he ditches us on Saturday night and now, he won't have lunch with us anymore?" She complained, frowning.

"He's suppose to come to our floor this pm so you can ask him then," Morgan tried to appease her. "Don't worry, I'm sure he hasn't forgotten about you."

On another day or occasion, Emily would have probably blushed a bit, but she was too upset to take the hint. All she knew was that she hadn't talked nor seen her friend in days now, and it was bugging her greatly because she unwillingly found herself missing him.

"Is LaMontagne going to be there?" She asked JJ, trying to bring the attention back to the blond because all those eyes turned to her made her uncomfortable. "Because Anderson was supposed to follow him everywhere, right?"

"Apparently, he'll be travelling in the morning so he doesn't know if he'll be there when we start. But he did add that William will try to stop by to play a quick game with us."

"I'm sure he's the one who told Anderson to invite you!"

JJ didn't comment on Penelope's supposition but silently hoped that she was right.

"It'll be tough though because my feet still hurt from all the dancing at the gala," she said. "And I think my left ankle didn't appreciate the heels too much."

"You just have to be careful and not overdo it," Emily advised. "If it hurts, just take a break."

"Anderson is picking me up so I'll need one of you guys to take me home, or we could go out for a drink, if everyone's not too tired?"

They all agreed.

"Just text me and I'll come take you," Emily proposed.

After JJ smiled her thanks at her, she went back to her salad. She had heard that Aaron Hotchner had been in her unit before becoming CEO, which made her wonder if he was going to show up at their afternoon activity.

There were something in the way he acted around her that night at the gala that still made her shiver. She wanted to fight with all her might but it was so much stronger. His moves, his words, his voice, his impassiveness... It all came back to her even though she wanted nothing to do with anything regarding Aaron Hotchner and his effusion of vanity.

She took the last bite of chicken from her plate, and silently wished for him not to make an appearance.

Or did she?

TBC...

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**2A/N:** It really isn't much, I know and I'm sorry. But sometimes Real Life really does get in the way... ;).

Please review if you liked it, or even if you didn't. x


	4. Chapter 4

**A/N:** Hey guys. I'm sorry I didn't post this new chapter sooner but I wanted to give you guys something more well-grounded than last time. Thanks to those who followed/added to their favorites/reviewed last week! No proof reading again, sorry, I'll do it later. I just really wanted to post it now.

I also wanted to answer the Guest review I got. I meant to do it on the previous chapter but it slipped my mind since I was in such a hurry.

So, my dear Guest, thanks for your review! I'm not an Austen fan per say, but I do love Pride and Prejudice, and I've seen the 2005 movie many, many times. I'm glad you look forward to reading my story because as I may have previously mentioned, I had the idea of writing this a long time ago but I was afraid people wouldn't take an interest to it. So yes, you guys' collective enthusiasm does boost me to write!

Rated **T** for now but might be up for a change in future chapters.

_**Disclaimers:** I don't own anything, blablabla. Not the characters, nor the book, nor the movie, nor the show..._

_Enjoy!_

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**Chapter 4**

Saturday afternoon came soon enough, and as Emily had expected, the hot weather didn't miss the call.

They were all dressed appropriately and ready to play. Penelope and Reid would be going to another tennis court along with their unit, Derek, Rossi, and Emily would do the same, and JJ had already left with Anderson to theirs.

Penelope and Reid weren't too thrilled at the idea of having to play tennis in such a hot weather, sure, but what bugged them the most was that they had been forced into it. Their initial plan was to keep on building their little computer they had started together a few months back. And because of that, Emily was kind of happy to know that they weren't going to be playing in the same court or else she wasn't sure she would have been able to keep herself from hitting them with some balls if they kept on complaining all afternoon.

Playing didn't bother her. In the few years she spent in Russia with her parents during her childhood, they had somewhat convinced her of practicing tennis. She was not going to pretend that she was a Sharapova nor a Kuznetsova but she could certainly hold her own and surprise Derek, who seemed to believe that she had never played the sport before in her life.

When everybody arrived, each unit went to its courts, and they started pairing off. Emily quickly chose Rossi, not giving him the chance to be with anyone else, not that he seemed to care anyway.

As the older man took of his jacket, she decided to warm up by annoying Morgan.

"Hey champion," he turned to her and as he smiled, she went on. "Ready to play?"

She was dressed in casual black sport shorts, a light yellow tank top, and white running shoes. Needless to say how disappointed she had been when she tried to put on one of her old tennis attires from her teenage years and it had almost split in two. What pained her wasn't exactly that she didn't have the same body from almost twenty years back, but that she had had to spend money on sport clothes that she would only wear once a month, and only through late spring till early fall.

Her sport bra was also starting to itch and she felt like her breasts had been transferred from Sing Sing to Guantanamo. Yes, it was that bad. She should have listened to Penelope and taken a bigger size. But it was too late to complain now.

"I was born ready, princess," he winked at her and didn't mind her laughing. "I'm hurt you didn't pick me."

"Aw, poor baby." She pinched his cheek, then she crouched down to make sure her shoes were tight enough that it wouldn't be uncomfortable to run, and rose her head to look at him. "You're any good at tennis?"

"It's not my forte, if I'm to be honest. But my one-handed backhand can do wonders when in exigency."

"Really, one-handed? How unexpected!" Her sarcasm was so palpable that it almost hurt.

He looked at her suspiciously. "I thought you had never played before but you seem to be much too confident right now."

"You're the one who assumed," she shrugged, stood up, and continued as she passed by him. "Now, let's coin toss it. Heads you serve, tails I do." She extended a hand, waiting for some change.

"Here." Rossi dropped a dime on her palm.

"I hope this is not representative of how much you value me." She tossed the coin. "Aha! Give me your balls. And get your head out of the gutter," she quickly added when she saw Derek's mouth open to speak.

He simply smirked and went with his partner to the other side of the tennis court.

"Whenever you guys are ready."

"Wait a sec!" She exclaimed when Rossi started walking closer to the net.

He turned around. "Yes, my one dime friend?" She put a hand on her hip as a protest and to indicate that she wasn't amused. "Oh bella, you know you're as precious to me as the apple of my eye so just tell me what you have so say already."

"I wasn't asking that much. A few thousand dollar bills would have been enough." She was pretty happy to be able to blame her blushing on the hot weather. "I just wanted to say that I'm really glad to be here." She saw Morgan put a dramatic hand on his chest. "Because I'm about to kick some ass and I'm loving it!"

"Okay, just hit the serve already," Derek pleaded.

She made the ball bounce a few times, inhaled deeply, shook her head, and paused. Hit it before it falls back, she kept repeating in her head. She moved her left foot forward, just a couple of inches away from the baseline.

Not wanting to drag it any longer, she finally tossed the ball, slightly to the front, and to the right, her left harm completely out and perpendicular to the ground, and her left side stretched. She simultaneously pushed on her legs, and as her feet left the ground, she hit the ball.

"Wow!" Rossi exclaimed as it brushed past his arm and ended right in the net.

"Kicking ass huh?" She heard Derek yell from the other side of the court.

"Sorry, I'm a little rusty."

After Rossi moved back slightly to the right and lowered himself a little, she proceeded to repeat the same routine. And this time, it landed right in the corner formed by the service and alley lines. Morgan barely had the time to react that Rossi announced the score.

"Ace! Fifteen-love."

He smirked. The woman sure had more than one string to her bow.

...

After an hour and a half, two sets to nothing for Emily and Dave, they all decided to take a break and freshen up.

"You're too good for me, I can't play you," Derek told the brunette, handing her a bottle of water and a clean towel which she gladly accepted.

"I should have told you that I'd played tennis before, right?" She took a few sips. "But it was nice."

"Sure, but if I'm ever to play with you again, it'll be with you on my team."

"Deal." She patted his leg and let her hand fall back to rest on her bag.

That's when she felt it vibrate.

Her phone, of course.

She checked it and it was JJ.

"Hey, Blondie!"

"I hate it when you call me that," her friend answered.

"I know. That's why I do it."

"Em, I'm sorry to bother you but, uh, I kind of need you to come over here."

"Why? Are you okay?" She started worrying.

"No, no. I mean, yes, I'm fine. It's just…" Emily could hear her walking and when she spoke again, her voice was much lower. "I completely forgot which day today was so I didn't pack appropriately so you know, I'm kind of having a situation here."

"What situation?" She frowned.

"I need a tampon, Em!"

"Oh! Is William there?"

"Yes, if you don't come right now, I might die of shame. And if you have some clothes to spare, I could use them too."

She laughed goodheartedly. "Of course, honey. I'll be there soon. Just hang tight and don't sit down!" She shut her phone and stood up, taking her bag with her. The three men beside her were scrutinizing her, expecting an explanation.

"It's a woman emergency. I have to go."

After that, they knew not to comment and just said their goodbyes.

Emily ran to the other court, forgetting about how disheveled she looked after such an intense game. Before opening the metal gate, she humidified her towel that she then rested around her neck and finished her bottle of water. As she stepped into the court, she immediately spotted JJ standing closely in front of a wall, a coat around her waist, probably there to hide the damages as much as possible. She jogged toward her.

"Hey," she dropped a kiss on her check, trying to lift her spirits after seeing the look of despair that was shadowing her beautiful pale face.

"Hey," her voice was so tiny. "Thanks, Em." She took the bag that Emily was handing to her and left to the bathroom.

"Emily!" She turned her head and saw that it was William calling her.

He wasn't alone. Anderson was sitting behind him, a blond girl was by his sides… Starring at none other than Aaron Hotchner. She growled. Great, just what she needed. But what surprised her most was that they were all dressed to play tennis.

She approached them and extended a hand to William, which he shook happily.

"Hi, how are you?"

"Good, good, thank you. And you?"

"Tired, I guess. But good, yes." She shook Anderson's hand, even though he was staring at her as if she had the plague, then she awkwardly shook Aaron's hand. It was as rough as the last time at the gala. But the touch lingered more than necessary and she felt the need to extract her hand from his. That's when something strange happened.

She felt his thumb brush the back of her hand and his other fingers tighten a bit when she tried to pull back, as if he wanted to bring her closer to him. Or was the heat making her delusional?

She turned to the blonde that was captivated by Hotchner.

"I'm sorry, I don't think we've met?"

"Oh, where are my manners?" William said. "Emily, this is my sister, Caroline. Caroline, this is Emily. She also works at the BAU, with Jennifer."

Emily smiled, not because she was glad to meet his sister, but because he called her friend Jennifer. Even though to some people it might have seemed impersonal, she knew it was the opposite. JJ was a nickname that almost everyone used, so to hear him call her by her given name was as if he had found his own personal and very unique nickname for her.

"You were playing tennis?" Caroline asked, not caring about the hand that Emily was extending to her.

"I was indeed." She let her arm down. "If you'll excuse me, I'm going to check on JJ."

The three men nodded and she could feel Hotchner's eyes following her. She wanted to turn around and stare at him so badly, just to make him come down from his high horses.

"My goodness, did you see her?" Caroline exclaimed when the locker room door closed behind Emily. "All sweaty and disgusting."

"That's what happens when you play tennis and therefor exercise," Aaron commented in his serious tone. "Concept with which you clearly seem unfamiliar."

Caroline gasped but he couldn't care less. That girl was just insufferable. But he put up with her because she was his best friend's sister. He just wondered how the lovely 12-year-old girl he had first met ended up being such a noisy young woman.

He took a seat beside Anderson, took out his phone and started answering some emails. Before he had the time to send the fourth one, Emily and JJ were back on the court. The blonde seemed to have regained some colors but still wasn't at her best. He put his phone back in his bag and took a box out of it.

As the two women walked towards them, he reached them half way, taking a bottle of water out of the fridge on his side, which he then handed to JJ along with the tiny box of pills.

"Here, take some Motrin. You'll feel better."

She gave him a warm smile, accepted both the water and the pills. "Thank you." She swallowed one pill and handed the box back to him.

"Oh, no. Keep it, please. You'll need it more than me, I believe."

"That's so nice of you." He simply nodded and they returned to the rest of the group.

"See, he can be nice." JJ murmured only for Emily to hear.

"Yeah, I'm not convinced. Make sure those really are Motrin before you take too many of them."

"Emily," the blonde reprimanded.

"What? Your mom never told you not to accept candies from strangers?"

JJ shook her head and decided to let it go.

"Aaron," Caroline dropped a hand on his forearm that he subtly took off. "How is your brother? I miss him!"

She knew that if there was one way to the man's heart, it was through his younger brother.

"You have a brother?"

"He's fine."

They both talked at the same time but Aaron decided to answer Emily's question.

"I do." If she could have believed it, Emily would have said that his face lit up at the mention of his brother. "He's almost done with college now. Another year to go and he'll graduate."

"Caroline, if you miss him so much, just call him," William finally commented.

"I barely know him, I wouldn't feel comfortable doing so."

"Then how can you miss him?"

"Oh Will, it's just a manner of speaking," she said with a bit of annoyance in her voice.

"Okay, that's enough. Nobody cares and I'm getting bored." It was Anderson who put an end to the brother and sister bickering. "Emily, you up for a game?"

"Sure."

"Great. Since we're six, so that makes three doubles. "

"Aw, you can count?" Emily teased but he simply rolled his eyes and went on.

"The pair who looses leaves the court to the third pair. You can pair up with Aaron, JJ and I will play together, and Will and Caroline."

"No! I wanna play with Aaron," the latter whined.

"I don't do doubles, so that's settled."

Of course he doesn't, Emily thought and rolled her eyes in her mind.

"That's fine, my sister and I will play against Anderson and JJ." The look he gave his sister made her understand that she wasn't to complain. The sweet and nice little guy had some hidden facets, after all.

"Good, let's go." Anderson quickly stood and took his things to the other court. JJ, Will, and Caroline promptly followed.

When they left, Emily picked up a racket and some balls, and went to one side of the court. Aaron did the same and took the other side. When he stood at the baseline, he understood why she hurried. He was facing the sun.

"You wanna play a match or just casual playing?" Emily suggested.

"Casual is fine, I guess."

She hit the serve and they started playing pretty easily. He didn't say a word until he put the ball in the net and broke their rally.

"My bad."

He hit the serve and they went on.

He wasn't that annoying, Emily thought, even more when he didn't say a word to offend her. But she could never stay long without talking and would soon find something to say, which would probably make them argue once again. She noticed that he looked very focused on their game, even though it was going slow and easy, at a steady and cordial pace. He always looked focused, no matter what he did. It was as though that frown never left his face; minus the few times she caught him smiling. The fact that each time she did notice, it instantly vanished, lead her to believe that he actually tried too hard not to smile or appear human. As if he had an appearance and reputation to maintain and live up to.

"JJ and Will make a cute couple." She was extending a hand. Maybe they could be courteous to each other. But the only answer she got was a nod. "His sister is very different from him."

"Yes, she is."

"Sometimes I wish I had siblings. Growing up as an only child isn't always as advantageous as some people may think." It was as if she was talking into the nothingness. "But I guess Penelope and JJ are like sisters to me." Okay, now, she was offended by his silence. The man didn't even need word to annoy people. She didn't hit the ball when he sent it back. "You don't care about my life, right?"

He pondered what to say and ended stumbling on his words.

"No, I don't. I mean, yes, I do. But I'm not good at small talks." He looked almost pained at the confession.

"I picked up on that, yeah."

"Mundane gatherings and activities aren't my forte, and surely don't help improve my social skills."

"So you force them on us."

"I thought it would help. Talking bring people closer, doesn't it? I thought it encouraged friendship and… other things."

"For people who already have things to say to each other, yes. Every thing nourishes what is strong already," she explained. "But for people who barely know each other? It will probably starve it entirely away."

"And how do you suggest they do that then?" He asked.

She didn't answer right away, so he hit the serve once again. They rallied for a while, smoothly, until she finally decided to speak.

"Dancing."

"Dancing?" He stopped in his tracks and the ball passed by him, rolling till the end of the court.

"Yes, dancing. It takes a lot of courage to dance in front of others. Not everyone is comfortable enough in their own body to do that. So I think it to be a nice way of connecting and getting to know someone better." She stood straight, pulled out another ball from under the hem of her shorts, and rested it on her racket's head. "But what most people don't notice is that we are constantly dancing around and with each other. We just have to find the right partner that we'll make us twirl in rhythm with the music."

When she looked up and stopped playing with the yellow ball, the smile that she saw on his face made her blush. It was quite short-lived but she had had the time to catch it before it faded.

She hadn't intended to open up so much and speak so freely but there was something despite Aaron Hotchner's outrageous pride that made each and every one of their conversations very vivid and meaningful to her, as ephemeral as some of them were.

"Can we stop playing?" She asked out of the blue, unable to handle that stare. "I'm exhausted."

"Oh, sure."

They both sat down and checked on their friends on the other court. They were still playing, and it seemed like it was going to last a little longer than their game had.

"So I guess we'll have to wait for them to finish," Aaron commented.

"Yep." Emily put her towel back around her neck. "It looks like it's gonna be just the two of us for the next hour, at least."

TBC…

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**2A/N:** I'm not gonna lie, the lack of reviews on the last chapters compared to the others kind of made me wonder if you were still interested in the story. Maybe it was because the chapter was short and I said I'd post a new one soon... I don't know.  
But if you're still interested and still enjoy it, please let me know. The next chapters depends on you guys because if I am to be honest, your reviews are part of what gives me the will to keep on writing.  
Thanks anyway for reading and I hope you enjoyed it. Let me now in the reviews. x


	5. Chapter 5

**A/N: **Thank you guys so much for the reviews on the last chapter! It's really good to hear (or read, should I say) from you and have your impressions and opinions on the story and how it's going forward. Thanks to the new followers and the new reviewers. It's so good and nice to read you and see that you've taken the time to leave a review. I'm really grateful.

I'm sorry I didn't post this chapter sooner but RL can be pretty demanding sometimes. I hope you enjoy it anyway! Sorry if there are any typos, I'll read proof it later.

Rated **T** for now but might be up for a change in future chapters.

_**Disclaimers:** I don't own anything, blablabla. Not the characters, nor the book, nor the movie, nor the show..._

_Enjoy!_

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**CHAPTER 5**

From the corner of her eye, she could see him drinking, and wiping off his sweaty forehead with a tiny hand towel. There was something so attractive about a man after he had exercised. Something that she could definitely understand but was trying so hard to fight because it was Aaron Hotchner, her _boss_, who was sitting beside her.

"So, you have a brother, huh?" She asked, trying to break the ice that was almost making her cold despite the hot weather.

He nodded.

"I had no idea. I thought you were the only heir of the Hotchner Empire," she half-joked half-mocked.

But it didn't seem to get to him in any way because he didn't show any sign of annoyance nor discontentment. Her eyes followed the length of his arms and she noticed he was now playing with the hem of the towel.

"What's his name?"

"Sean."

"He doesn't work at the company, I presume?"

"No, he doesn't."

"What does he do? How old is he?"

"As I mentioned earlier, he's finishing college. He also works at a restaurant and he is 26."

"Wow, he's a lot younger. He works because he wants to?"

"My parents did not plan to have another child. And yes, he does."

"And college?"

"He's majoring in… music." She heard the hesitation.

"Really?" It was hard to believe.

"He really doesn't care about studies, actually. His dream is to be a chef and open his own restaurant but when our father passed away, he made him promise that he would go to college." His voice broke a little when he mentioned his father. "So he got into the University of Virginia but his path there is sort of scattered."

"Scattered how?"

"He was in law school and hated it. He dropped out eventually, but when I finally convinced him to at least get a degree, he chose Music. It is needless to say that it was _not_ what I was expecting but I suppose it's the best I can ask for."

"Music and cuisine… Sounds amazing," she marveled.

"I just hope it will be useful. Why so many questions about my little brother?"

"Oh, I'm just trying to make small talks since we have nothing else to do." She scrunched her noise. "But if you prefer to remain silent… I mean, I just find it really hard not to talk."

"I've noticed."

"What are you implying?" She said, accusingly, after violently rotating her head towards him and giving him a glare. "Anyway, it just seems strange because surely, he must have inherited some of your parents' fortune so he could have easily opened a restaurant but I guess this is none of my business, and you're my boss, and I'm most certainly being ill-mannered. I'm sorry." She looked down and wished she could be swallowed into a hole in the ground.

"No, don't be." He turned his head to her and searched for her eyes but failed. "It's jut that… this is a very long and sensitive story which I really don't feel like remembering right now." He saw her nod but obviously, she still felt like she had crossed some boundaries. "I… We can talk about something else if you'd like?" He saw her lips curl up. It was subtle, but he didn't miss it.

"I guess we could, yes."

After that, a few minutes passed without any of them saying a word.

"Well, nice talk, huh?" She tried a joke to lighten the mood.

"I'm sorry. As I've mentioned, I really am not skilled in that sort of social triviality."

"I think your main problem is that you think too much!" She saw him raising an eyebrow and felt the need to add something. "Sir."

"Sir?" He asked, incredulously. "Where is that coming from?"

"I don't know, I just feel like I was overpassing another untold frontier between employer/employee that I shouldn't have."

"Emily, please." The way he pronounced her name, how he let the final sound linger… "There must be three to six people between us in the chain of command. That barely makes me the boss of your boss' boss' boss. Or whatever."

"Yeah, when you say it like that, not only do you make a point, but it also makes me feel kind of insignificant compared to you."

"That's not…" She interrupted him.

"Stop apologizing. Please. I'm not in sugar." After he nodded, she remained silent.

"I've worked for your mom before," he told her out of nowhere and it took her by surprise. "It was my first internship."

"What? How? I don't remember meeting you before. And I used to know most of the people she worked with at the time."

"I think you were off to Yale."

"Oh. But why do an internship within your parents' own company?"

"I wanted to earn the right to work there. To show people I was worthy of the job and not just inherit from it whenever my father would decide to retire." Emily wasn't sure why, but it hurt to hear him say that. Probably because after those revelations, it would make him the person most apt to understand what she had gone through, what she had fought for, and everything she had worked so hard to obtain. But then, his words from the gala came hitting her again. "I wanted to earn my parents' respect, most of all. Show them that I could succeed on my own."

"Huh," the sound came off as a bitter one. "I know the feeling."

And once again, she looked down and he missed her eyes. He had been so mistaken about her. Everything he had said about her taking advantage of her parents' position to get a job… He had no idea how to phrase an apology, so he changed the subject, running away.

"Your father wasn't around either."

"Uh?"

"When I worked for your mother, I never saw your father. And I stayed there a while."

"Oh, right." She rearranged some locks of hair behind her ear, and his hand started twitching at the idea of doing the same thing, under other circumstances, in another setting… "My dad, he, huh, had a heart attack just before I went to college." Before he could say something, she continued. "He came out of it as physically fine as one can after such an event but he went through a sort of life crisis. He moved out, travelled on his own, once he stayed at my place in New Haven for a few weeks before leaving without notice. It went on for almost a year. When he came home, we had no idea where he had been, we hadn't spoken to him in months, and I thought my mother was gonna slit his throat and feed him to the dog."

"And she didn't?"

"Obviously, no." She laughed, almost bitterly. "When he passed the door, she ran to him. I could picture her hitting him but instead, she threw her arms around his neck and cried, asking if he was okay, saying she had been worried sick about him." There was a thin breeze that made her shiver and he fought the need to rub her arms. "I had never seen my mother like that. So shaken up, distraught and… fragile."

"She seems to have forgiven him."

"Well, it did happen almost twenty years ago. Ouch. So yes, she has, but she makes him pay everyday. And if I know her well, it'll last till the last day of his life."

"Excuse me, but between the both of them, she doesn't seem like the frightening one."

"Oh, don't let her appearance fool ya."

"She wasn't so bad during my internship."

"That's because you had the chance to meet her at her most vulnerable times. Why do you think my dad attends all of those galas and even smiles through it? She makes him pay, not with a ten thousand dollar check but with one million pennies." She paused for a second, and rubbed her neck. "And I can't say I disapprove."

He could see in her eyes, her attitude, how she couldn't stay still, that it had hit her pretty hard, that she had suffered from it. There was pain in her voice throughout the entire tail, and even though she tried to hide it with some subtle jokes here and there, he noticed it.

"Anyway, I don't know why I told you all this."

"It's okay, I'm the one who pressed the subject. I'm so–", he stopped midsentence when he saw her glaring at him, anticipating his apology.

He took advantage of that to stare at her eyes. When he first met her, he could have said that they were of some boring, brown shade. But now that they were fixed on him, they seemed to have some sort of magic power that captivated his attention, and prevented him of looking away. They seemed to have cast as spell over him, and he couldn't say he minded.

It looked like a perfect cliché, but he couldn't hear a thing, everything around them had been muted, and all that mattered was the connection they were having.

She was still very much disheveled, her hair pointing in all directions from her ponytail, her face was completely bare, bore absolutely no make-up, her shirt showed some clear signs of physical activity with some sweaty spots on her torso but also in her lower back (he had noticed it earlier when she gave him her back to go rest where they were now sitting). She looked absolutely gorgeous.

His stare probably made her a tad uncomfortable because he could now see that her pupils were flickering. His eyes travelled to her mouth, and he caught her nibbling at her lower lip, gifting it with an even brighter shade of pink that it already displayed.

Before any of them could even think of making a move, the gate separating the courts broke the soothing silence that somehow contrasted with their usual selves but managed to maintain a peaceful atmosphere between the two strong-headed brunettes.

There was another thin breeze, and Emily shivered once more. The sun was still shining high, but it was losing in its heat. Which indicated them that it was probably 6pm already, if not more.

"Hey guys!" Will's voice completely took them both out of their little bubble.

"Em, you okay?" JJ sat down besides her friend and took her hand in hers. "You look a little pale."

"I'm fine. I might have exhausted myself a bit, though." She gave her a weak smile, and avoided Aaron's eyes. "And you?"

"I'm good. The Motrin helped a lot," she smiled at Aaron who simply nodded back.

"He didn't bore or offend you too much I hope?" Will joked, smiling at Emily despite the disapproving look that Aaron was giving him.

"No, he did not," she took a pause, half-smiled, and stood up. "Not this time, anyway."

Will took it as a joke and didn't notice the subtle hint of hurt that colored her statement. She decided to avoid looking at Aaron. But if she had, she would have seen the astonish look he displayed, at realizing that she _had_ heard him the other night, and how shame started creeping its way on his face.

"Uhm, JJ, it's getting late already, we should hurry or the others are gonna be waiting for us." It was the perfect excuse to run away.

"Oh, by the way, I invited Will and his sister to join us, if you don't mind."

"I'm not going, don't worry." Anderson felt the need to clarify as he saw Emily's unpleased and surprised look.

"Aw, that's too bad, really." He glared at her, but she couldn't care less. "I, uh, sure, that's okay. The more the merrier, right?" She raised her eyebrows and forced on a smile.

"Of course, you can join in, Aaron." Damn JJ and her good heart.

"I'm not sure it's appropriate…"

"Come on, grumpy. Don't be a party pooper," William teased.

"Yeah, we already have one of those." This time, it was JJ who tried to get on her friend's nerves, and pointed to the brunette with her thumb.

And at that moment, it was hard to determine what or who was the funniest. Emily and Aaron who were both bearing the same displeased face, or the fact that they seemed to fail to see how alike they actually were at times.

"It's settled then."

"Where are we going anyway?" Caroline asked, feeling like people had almost forgotten that she was there, too.

"The guys wanted to go to Bang, for a change, but I'd prefer Miller's," Emily spoke up. "I can walk home from there. It's closer."

"By barely thirty feet, seriously." JJ knew her friend could be lazy but this was taking it to extremes.

"Whatever. We have our usual table chez Miller's, plus there's great music."

"That sounds nice." Count on Will to find everything nice, Emily thought. Perfect match for JJ.

"They even let Spencer, our friend, play the piano. It's a great place."

"Let's go then?"

"Sure. Uhm, but maybe we should shower first," Emily suggested. "I have my car so I can take JJ and Caroline. JJ can text you the address, it's barely four miles away, on Main Street, and we'll meet there. How does that sound?"

"Perfect," he extended a hand to her, which she shook, as if they were settling a deal. "If Carly gets too annoying, please don't leave her by the side of the road," he muttered, for only her to hear.

She laughed, good-heartedly, but couldn't promise anything so she simply nodded and walked away. She could hear JJ and Will trying to say goodbye to each other without sounding too cheesy and desperate even though they all knew that they were probably going to see each other again in an hour, two, tops.

She waved goodbye at Anderson, who really didn't seem to care, and saw Caroline rushing to the locker room, her phone in hand. She made a mental note to kill JJ at some point during the evening. How could she invite that brat? The girl looked like an angel but was the perfect example of that saying; never be deceived by appearances, or something. But of course, JJ was too blinded by William's everything to care and thought that inviting her to their weekly gathering would be a great strategy to seduce him. As if her well-polished personality and good looks couldn't do the trick.

As she was about to open the door to go inside, Aaron passed by her and held it for her. She tried to ignore him but her nose captured the sweet mixture of musk and testosterone that he was emitting. _Damn it_, she mentally cursed and then grinded her teeth obviously louder than she first intended since she saw him raising an eyebrow.

"Did I startle you?" He asked.

"A bit," she lied.

"My bad." He let her in and then followed her until the end of the corridor, where the ladies and men locker rooms faced each other. She wasn't looking at him directly but could see from the corner of her eye, and also hear, that he was getting in. But before she could escape herself, she heard his voice, low and deep. "Hope you're gonna change into something cleaner cause I'm not sure they'll let you in if you're wearing that."

She didn't give him the pleasure of turning around to answer and just opened and then closed the door in his face. Joke or not, she wasn't in the mood to humor him.

"Jerk face," she muttered to herself.

"Did you say something?" Caroline asked, in her high pitched and annoying voice. Emily had almost forgotten about her.

"No, nothing. Can you get ready in less than an hour? It would be nice to get out of here before…" she checked her phone, "let's say, 7:30?"

"Fine," she dragged the word for much longer than necessary. "I'm going to the showers."

Emily rolled her eyes. That car road was probably going to be the longest 15 minutes of her life. And she silently prayed to God to open the way till the bar or else she would cut a b–

"Emily, hurry! We can't be late!" JJ exclaimed, barging in the room, not caring if her friend was half naked or not, and just started undressing as she walked to the showers. _Cute_. And the woman was 34!

To Emily's surprise, they actually took less time than she had first anticipated to get ready. They weren't smelling like they had just ran a marathon anymore, her hair looked half decent, JJ's and Caroline's were almost as shiny as if they had gone to a hair saloon (Emily had forgotten her conditioner and didn't want her hair to smell neither like lavender nor chamomile, so she settled on her apple shampoo and let it happily dry in half-harmonized waves). They had even had time to put on some pretty and elegant makeup, which she was very proud of, her eyelashes being as long as ever. JJ and Emily were both wearing skinny jeans. JJ's were of a dark blue, and Emily's were black. Caroline was in a very short dress that the brunette thought to be almost vulgar but decided not to comment on. The girl had the right to show as much skin as she desired, after all. She was also proud that she hadn't forgotten to pack her dark red high heels, which matched perfectly well with her lipstick and her cute tank top. They were all dressed very casual (almost), but that's what to be expected after an afternoon of sport.

The ride was also a good surprise. Caroline stayed quiet in the back seat while Emily and JJ chatted away. The blonde had a lot to say about William but couldn't risk it in front of his sister. So instead they tried to remember what band was supposed to be playing at Miller's, and somewhat ended up reminiscing about their time in high school.

As they arrived, Emily smiled broadly, having been the one to remember that it was the Vine Brothers playing that night, and reminded JJ that she had to pay for her first drink. They joined the group at their usual table. The booth was definitely too small for just the six of them so with their three guests… It would be just too crowded. Morgan was sitting on one end, Penelope by his sides, followed by Spencer, William, and finally, Hotchner. The latter stood up as soon as he saw them and grabbed three chairs from another table, after politely asking. Morgan, being the gentleman that he was, offered Caroline his seat on the booth and of course, she agreed, goofily smiling. That's the Derek Morgan effect for you. She had just been dumbstruck by his Colgate smile. Or just struck period since she already seemed…

"Emily," Hotchner's voice caught her attention. He was motioning for her to take his sit but she shook her head.

"JJ can sit there," she pushed her friend forward, who then immediately slipped beside William. "I'll take the chair. I get up all the time, it'll be easier for everyone."

He didn't say a word and just watched as she went around the table, kissing everyone on both cheeks before finally choosing a chair. Caroline had somewhat managed to convince Morgan to stay by her side so Emily found herself between him and Hotchner.

"Hey, Em," a waiter said, after taking a notepad out of his pocket.

"Oh, pretty Dave!" She smiled so big that Aaron was almost surprised by it. "You're back on Saturday night shifts?"

"Yep. The best night for tips," he outrageously winked at her and she let out a good belly laugh. "What would the lady like to have tonight?"

"Oh you know very well that whatever I order will turn me in everything but a lady. And since I don't feel like a lady at all tonight, I'll start with a stoli rapzberri. Oh and bring me some creamy lobster bisque, please. Be generous and I'll see how much I can make them tip you." He noted down her order and walked away.

"How can you be on a first name basis with half the waiters around here? You've been living here for not even a month!"

"I just pay attention to them, Spencer. If you're nice, they don't spit on your food or drink." She then turned to Morgan. "How come Rossi's not here?"

"His new lady, you forgot?"

"Ugh. Who am I gonna dance with now?"

Aaron's hand started to twitch, a knot formed in his throat, but before he could get rid of it to build up the courage to say something, Morgan beat him to it.

"I'm here, Princess, don't worry."

As the other went back to their plate, William sharing with JJ, and Caroline helping herself to Derek's fries without even asking, Emily closed her eyes for a second. The music was nice, the atmosphere calmer than usual, which she might have minded hadn't she been exhausted, and the light was slightly more toned down than usual. Her head rolled to the left, as she almost fell asleep, and she quickly opened her eyes. The first thing to come into her sight was Aaron's hand, holding a glass of whiskey.

"You're not eating anything?"

"I ate a quick salad before you arrived."

And with that simple sentence, she felt the need to strike him in the head. Who could spend the afternoon playing tennis, and then only eat a salad and drink whiskey?! But before she could mold an answer, Caroline spook up.

"Who's up for a dance after we finish eating?" Nobody took the time to answer, so she insisted. "Emily? You said you wanted to dance."

Has anyone ever choked on fries before, Emily wondered, could be entertaining.

"Sure. Why not?" There wasn't much spirit in her answer.

"Aaron, will you dance with me?" She asked, not caring about her audience.

"I don't think so. But I'll make sure to watch you," he said as if talking to a child who wanted their father's attention, and not entering in her flirtatious games.

"Yeah, he hates dancing," Emily spoke up.

"I never said I did."

"Maybe you don't know how, so you just avoid it in order not to be teased."

"Hotchner sure wouldn't appreciate to be laughed at," William commented.

"Are you too proud?" She didn't give him time to answer. "Would you consider it a quality or a flaw?"

"I can't say." He took another sip of his drink, and Emily was having a hard time to perceive if he was offended by her comments or not.

"Or are you flawless?" She spoke before remembering he was her boss, and would have regretted her words had he not told her earlier that day that she could barely consider him as such since she was still so low in the chain of command.

He finished his glass and rested it on the table. "I don't forgive easily. I hate it when people act like fools and incautiously, not caring about the effect it could have on others. My good opinion once lost is very difficult to win back, if not impossible."

"I can't say I disagree with you on that." Her plate arrived soon enough and she started eating. She was famished! And really needed to work out more.

After that, she had three other drinks, and drank half of Aaron's third whiskey. He didn't think she had even noticed, since she was clearly starting to get intoxicated. He felt the need to slow her down but was too afraid of sounding out of place, and she would probably put him in his.

Caroline stood up to dance and was followed by Emily, Derek, Penelope and Spencer. JJ and Will decided to stay at the booth, saying sweet nothings at each other, flirting almost imperceptibly, and eating some cheese. They were surprisingly both still sober.

Aaron watched the others on the dance floor. The music wasn't of libidinous material but Caroline didn't seem to care as she twirled around between two men that gathered around her. Even though he didn't carry her in his heart, she was still his best friend's sister, who seemed too busy to care after her, so he kept a close eye on the two guys.

Not far from them were Emily and Derek, dancing slowly. They were being goofy, which kind of surprised him. He had a hand on her hip, not too low or too high, she had one on his shoulder, and he had taken her other hand in his free one. They were swaying from right to left, their hands going up and down, and sometimes she would throw her head back and let out a small and gracious laugh. He paid particular attention to the sway of her hips, how tiny her figure seemed in front of Derek's and in his arms. Aaron closed his right hand in a fist. There was a pang of jealousy rising in him that he didn't want to acknowledge.

And the night went on with the group of friends enjoying themselves even though they had had a very tiring day. Apparently alcohol and food could do wonders to sore feet and ankles.

At around 1am, Dave the waiter called the last song before sending everyone home. The kitchen had closed already and the bar was almost there, too.

He put the bill on their table, and Aaron reached out for it but Emily snapped it out of his hands. She insisted that they always split the bill, no matter how much everyone had drunk or eaten. That's friendship, she had explained. He still put on a few more dollar notes to cover the tip.

"Does everyone who has had something to drink have a ride?" William asked as they passed the front door and stopped on the street in front of the bar. He seemed so serious.

"I'm taking Penelope and Spencer home," Derek announced, playing with his keys.

"Good. I'll drop Caroline home and then I'll get JJ back to her place," Will said.

"Oh Will, you should definitely do something when you buy that apartment!" Penelope clapped her hands. "Invite us all over and will bring you food and goodies."

"I will, don't worry." He smiled and turned to Emily, "how are you getting home?"

"I can walk, it's literally two minutes away. I'll get my car in the morning." Emily smiled at him broadly, half closing her eyes.

"Are you sure?" Derek asked. "I don't mind taking you–"

"Psht," she interrupted him. "I'm not gonna have you make that detour when I can walk. It's right there," she pointed down the street. "Then right on the right," she pointed to the left. "No, the left," she then pointed to the right.

"I'll take her home," Aaron finally spoke up, startling Emily.

"Noooo, I can go on my own."

"I insist."

She dropped her head and shrugged. "Okay."

"Thanks, man. Fifth on the right. She'll remember the door when you get there." And with that Morgan left with Spencer and Penelope, and William with JJ and Caroline.

Emily started down the street, Aaron walking by her side, a bit behind, keeping some distance. They were both silent, but they didn't seem to mind, there were still some noises coming from the other bars to make it less awkward. She rubbed her arms as a thin breeze hit them. A few seconds later, she felt something on her shoulders. It was Aaron's coat that he had just dropped on her. She murmured a thank you and held it in place with both of her hands.

When they reached the front of the lobby of her apartment building, she tried to take of her heels but almost fell. Aaron caught her by the hips and steadied her. A shiver ran down her spine, and he must have felt it since he promptly let her go. But as he saw her trying again to bend down, he extended a hand to her, which she took after staring at it for a few seconds. The hand didn't seem to be enough as she still wiggled a bit so he took her left hand in his own and put his right one around her waist. His touch was warm, delicate, and almost tentative. But she felt so good and appeased at that exact moment.

She slowly took of her right heel, then her left one, and held them with two fingers. She was now four inches smaller, which made her even tinier in his arms. He felt the need to bring her closer, tighter…

Emily detached herself a bit and tried to take of his coat, but he wouldn't let go of her hand.

"You can give it back later." His voice was so deep and throaty, and she shivered again, even though she wasn't cold anymore.

She smiled.

"I, uh, I should get inside now."

He nodded and slowly loosened his grip on her hand. It slipped out of his and before he could say goodbye, she was in the lobby and the door was closing behind her.

He touched the tip of his fingers with his thumb, and then, as he walked away, he stretched out his hand.

**To be continued...**

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**2A/N:** Thanks for reading! Let me know if you've liked it or not.  
I'm leaving on vacation at the end of the week and will only be back in August. Since I'll be abroad, I'm not sure I'll have access to a computer to post any new chapter during that time... I might still write though because I'll have my iPad with me but it'll probably be smaller chapters. If you want me to post them anyway throughout the month of July, let me know!

Thanks again and please review! xx


	6. Chapter 6

**A/N: **GUYS! I'm so, so, SO SORRY for not posting anything for more than two months. I feel awful about it. But I had the occasion to prolong my vacation so I just grabbed it with both hands. But now I'm back and ready to keep writing and finish this story. I'll go back to posting more often (maybe not once a week but I'll do my best). So here's a short chapter but I already started the next one. It was actually meant to all be in one chapter but I haven't finished the second part yet so I decided to give you guys something.

It's also to see if there are still people interested in this story and still reading it! Once again I apologize.

Rated **T** for now but might be up for a change in future chapters.

_**Disclaimers:** I don't own anything, blablabla. Not the characters, nor the book, nor the movie, nor the show..._

_Enjoy!_

* * *

**Chapter 6**

Two weeks after their tennis session, William sent out a group email to all of them to come to his brand new apartment for a house-warming party, as Penelope had suggested. His invitation stated that it was casual and they could all bring a plus one if they wanted to. His sister would also be there as well as Aaron. Emily grinded her teeth at that.

They had randomly walked into each other around the building, which she found strange since Morgan had always told her that Hotchner never stayed in Charlottesville for too long. But at each one of their encounters, they barely exchanged some uncomfortable stares and a polite hello from now on. She still had his coat and was yet to come up with a plan to give it back to him without having to actually see or talk to him. It turned out to be quite the _Mission: Impossible_ of the month and she was no Tom Cruise.

Maybe that house-warming party would be the perfect place to just drop it on his arms and flee to another room before he could even formulate a clear sentence. That was it, she had her plan! It was easier than she thought, which means something would probably go wrong but that didn't scare her, she had taken improv' classes in college so she would just come up with something in good time. And the party was still a few days away.

In the meantime, she had to endure her best friend's rambling about William. Indeed, he had sent her another email, a private one, after the grouped one, to ask her if she wanted to be his plus one and if she would take him as hers. And by now, they had exchanged many other emails, but also text messages and phone calls, which she had on occasion witnessed. It was useless to say that she found them as cheesy as raspberry cheesecake. They had also been out on some occasions and apparently, William had been eager to take their relationship to a brand new level. JJ, on the other hand, was much more careful and had her foot on the break pedal.

Which brought them to the conversation that Emily was trying to keep as PG as possible, as they sat in their area's closed garden, during the mid afternoon break she had invented for her new found passion for a mid afternoon snack in the outdoors.

"Please, JJ, be light on the details because there are people coming and going around us all the time," she mentioned around them with her hands. "And people have ears! And mouths, that often talk too much, and rumors don't fly. They freaking travel in light-speed-fast spaceships."

"But Em," she laughed, "they don't even know who I'm talking about. Anyway, so we did do some stuff like, you know, that involves nudity," she watched as her friend put a hand over her eyes. "He was gentle, and well, the man can use his mouth for other things than speeches, that, I can assure you!"

"Come on, JJ!" She winced. "I'll pretend I didn't hear. But what really matters is that he doesn't pressure you into anything if you don't want to."

"Oh but don't worry, he doesn't. He's been very understanding so far."

"But honey, for how long? I mean, he's a man and that kind of thing can turn any gentleman into some thoughtless, pubescent teen."

"No, no, he told me that he totally understood if I wanted to wait and he said it was perfectly normal that I wanted to know him better before we start having sex." Emily made a face. "Oh, come on, don't be such a prude. You're probably the most perverted one in the group anyway."

"What?! Have you ever talked to Penelope after one of her conquests?" She urged in complete outrage.

"I what?" The latter appeared behind them and sat between them.

"We were mentioning how sexually active you can be."

"Oh, that's true."

"I guess you have a point," JJ admitted. "But going back to our subject, I'm going as his plus one to the party but, you know, I kind of expected that we'd expose what we have and maybe put a, uhm, how do I say that?"

"Put a label on you guys? Yeah, well, that's probably not happening because since you're only doing teen stuff with him, or at least teen stuff from our time anyway, don't be surprised if he refuses to hold your hand in the hallways."

JJ whined.

"Em, you're not being funny. You're just being mean and not helpful at all."

"Yes and I have no idea of what has been said before," Penelope complained.

"She'll tell you later, Pen. And JJ, you came to me for advice knowing for well that I'm a disaster in relationships. What did you expect? That I'd miraculously find a solution to all your problems? Just get your story straight with him. Call him, tell him you want something serious and that's why you need time to take things further, and if he's ready not to take the fastest way, you want to make it official, be exclusive, or whatever people say nowadays, what do I know anyway." When her friend stayed silent for a few seconds, she turned to her. "What?"

"Nothing," the blonde answered, not being able to hide her surprise very well. "You just gave me the best piece of advice that I could ever have asked for."

"Oh really?" Emily was just as surprised as her friend. "I guess it's those new vitamins and omega-3 pills I'm taking. They do say on the box that it improves brain performances. I just didn't expect it to work so fast!"

JJ shook her head but couldn't help but smile at the brunette who promptly returned to her cherry tomatoes. But when she tried to stab one with her plastic fork, it went flying.

"Shit!" She cursed, starting counting in her head.

But before she could get up, she saw it being picked up and handed over to her. She didn't think twice and just took it immediately to her mouth, chewing away. When she looked up, her eyes fell on some handsome man, standing there, in front of them.

"It fell on the floor, you know. And who eats cherry tomatoes with a fork?"

"It didn't pass the eighteen seconds window," she tried to explain, but decided to ignore his questioning look. "Who are you to judge me anyway?"

"I'm the man who saved your food?" He said, in a questioning tone. But Emily stayed unimpressed. "I apologize. My name is John Cooley," he extended a hand to her, which she shook.

"Emily."

"Emily…" He repeated, letting the consonant linger on his tong. "And do you have a surname?"

"Like any other American citizen, yes." She felt Penelope elbowing her. "Prentiss. Emily Prentiss."

"Oh, a Prentiss!"

"See, that, right there," she mentioned to him with her hand, "is exactly why I don't like to mention my surname." She then turned to her friend, "and those are Jennifer Jareau and Penelope Garcia."

He shook their hands.

"Nice to meet you."

"Likewise."

"I didn't mean to sound rude. I'm sure you're just as much of a hard worker as your parents. I really do admire them."

Emily tried to contain herself but she already felt her face getting warmer. She couldn't believe that she was actually talking to John Cooley. After everything she had heard about him and what Dave had explained to her, she had to admit that he sounded rather nice and _very_ good-looking. Tall, dark, and handsome. Just like Hotchner… She shook her head.

"Three of you work here I presume?" His voice took her out of her reverie.

"We do," JJ answered. "And you?"

"Uhm, no, I'm just visiting an old friend of mine that I haven't seen in awhile." There was an awkward pause. "Can I, uhm, join you?"

"Of course," Emily answered, and he took a chair to be face to face with them.

They easily kept on talking for a while, Penelope having obviously fallen under Cooley's spell. He was a rather interesting guy, with a lot of stories to tell, he was funny, not boring at all. And after hearing some his tales, Emily started to think that he had come from very far and that his life hadn't been a peaceful walk at all.

"So you joined the army before or after the war? Or wars, should I say." She asked.

"I joined in 2004."

"In the middle of the wars, then? Wow. You have some balls, pardon my French."

He laughed good-heartedly.

"I don't know if you can say that. I felt like it was my duty after all. I was unemployed, young, and in good shape. I didn't think twice."

Penelope was in complete awe of him but before she could comment, she spotted two other males.

"William! Aaron!" She exclaimed, and at that, JJ straightened up, blushing a little. "I'm sure you both know John Cooley. He was telling us about his time in Afghanistan. You should invite him to your party, he told us you guys knew each other."

Penelope had that power of putting out there everything she had to say before you even had the time to blink.

But as soon as she finished talking, Aaron simply turned around and walked away, without even addressing a word to them. Not even saying hello or acknowledging their presence at all. He looked pale, as if he had seen a ghost, and Emily didn't miss the look he sent John.

"Uhm, sure, you can come, too, John. Just get the address with them." He looked so uncomfortable that it was painful to watch. "I'm sorry but I have to run," he looked behind him to see where Aaron had gone to. "I'll see you guys on Saturday?"

They all acquiesced, and before he left, he smiled at JJ.

"Well, that was awkward," Penelope commented.

"It was. We should probably go to work, Pen." JJ took her by the hand and they stood up. "I'll text you, Em. John, it was a pleasure."

"It was all mine." They smiled at him and left. "You don't work in the same department?" He asked Emily.

"No, the three of us work in different ones. Mine is right there," she pointed behind her with her thumb. "Why was Aaron Hotchner so displeased to see you here?"

"Oh, Aaron and I go a long way."

"Please, tell me. I'd like to hear the story."

"If you insist…" He exhaled. "My parents used to work for his dad when I was a toddler. Our dads were best friends and considered each other as brothers. So Aaron and I kind of grew up together, going to the same schools, playing in the same soccer team, and so on. But not long after my fiftieth birthday, my parents died in a car accident," Emily said she was sorry but he simply nodded. "I don't mind talking about them. I mean, I still miss them but we always had a great relationship, I have no regrets regarding them, so I'm at peace with them. After that, Aaron's dad let me live with them and I went to high school with Aaron, then we attended college together. But before we graduated, his dad fell ill and passed away. He considered me as a third son, you know."

"It must have been so hard for you. After loosing both your parents, you also lose the last parent figure you had left in your life. I can't even imagine."

"I get by, believing that I could always rely on my friendship with Aaron."

"But he betrayed you?"

"I don't like to say that but, yes, it's a way of putting it. When we read his father's will, we discovered that he had divided his share of the BAU, which was of 60%, between Aaron, his little brother, and myself. But as he had named Aaron as the executor, Aaron took advantage of it, and out of jealousy because he thought his father loved me more or some kind of twisted thing like that, he sold my share to Erin Strauss. What he didn't expect is that his little brother did the same so Erin became the biggest shareholder of the BAU. Sure he started buying back some parts after he graduated and started making money. But because of that, I found myself without enough money to pay for both college and a rent, since he had chased me out of the Hotchner household. So I dropped out and went on to do casual works here and there, as they came and as I found them, which was pretty hard without a college degree nor any sort of professional experience."

"I can't believe he did that to you!" Emily exclaimed. "And he claims that he is all for loyalty and bla bla bla. He is such a hypocrite!"

"Please, don't think any less of him because of this sordid story. He is a great man, he kept his father's company afloat, he tried his best to help his brother even though he was always unfair to him, in my honest opinion."

"Don't. You don't have to defend him. He was nothing but a jerk to you. After everything you went through together. That's just unbelievable."

"No, I mean, sure, if I still had my share, I'd have a much better living, but I'm very happy with what I have and I'm glad I did everything I did. I'm proud of everything I have."

"Of course you are. You worked hard for it, you didn't simply inherit from it."

"I appreciate your support, Emily. I really do. Because I believe you also had to work hard to get where you are, without the help of your parents."

"Yeah, we do have that in common," she nodded. "Even though I didn't go to war."

"You know, sometimes we fight the hardest wars at home."

She smiled at him, and he smiled back.

"You are going to William's party?"

"Yes, of course. He's such a nice guy."

"He is."

"I don't understand how he can be friends with Aaron Hotchner…"

"Emily…"

"It's true. And the worst is, that he's going to be there, that party pooper."

He laughed.

"Would you like to come with me? Maybe I could make it less sufferable for you and we'd be there for each other."

She grinned at him, and nodded.

"Sure, why not? It starts at 9pm so…"

"I'd be delighted to come pick you up but I'll barely have time to change after work if I don't want to be late so you just wait for me by his building and I'll be there around 9:15, probably."

"Okay, that's fine by me. I'll be waiting for you."

"Could you give me the address?"

"Oh, sure."

And so Emily found herself a plus one. Better late than never, she told herself. Even though she was ready to go alone as both Morgan and Spencer already had a date, she was actually glad that she was going to show up with someone. Even more that that someone was John Cooley, who she had to admit was very charming…

**To be continued...**

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**2A/N: **Voilà! There's nothing much happening there but it's just a prelude to some Hotch action that is to come! They'll all be at William's party and yes, things will be happening!

Please, review if you've enjoyed it (or not), and to let me know if you're still interested in this fanfiction.

Thanks for reading! x


	7. Chapter 7

**A/N: **First of, thank you so much to those who reviewed, added to their favorites and followed.

And as promised, here comes the party. Not proof read but I'll probably check every chapter when I finish that fic lol.

Rated **T** for now but might be up for a change in future chapters.

_**Disclaimers:** I don't own anything, blablabla. Not the characters, nor the book, nor the movie, nor the show..._

_Enjoy!_

* * *

**Chapter 7**

Saturday night came soon enough. Of course, Emily didn't escape Penelope's shopping session that she always claimed to be mandatory before every single one of their outings, even though most of what she bought was crazy earrings, extravagant necklaces and bracelets. The brunette would often complain but deep down, she really enjoyed going out with her two best friends.

They had all paired up to attend the party. JJ was of course going as William's plus one, Penelope had met some guy named Kevin that she was yet to introduce to them, Derek was bringing a girl he had danced with chez Miller's the previous week. And to everyone's surprise, Spencer was bringing a woman named Maeve that he apparently liked very much.

Since John was going to join her there, Emily had called to see if JJ wanted to carpool with her. But the real reason was that she hated to arrive alone at a party. Unfortunately, her friend was going to help William before everyone arrived and so would be going there at 2pm. Then Emily remembered that she was to wait him outside anyway so there was no reason for her to worry.

She started getting ready at around 7. His apartment wasn't far from hers but with traffic, she thought it would be safer to anticipate. If there was something she hated more than arriving alone, it was to be stuck in traffic. And so at 8:50pm, she was gone.

The drive was much quicker than she had imagined, which meant that she arrived at 9pm, along with Penelope and her Kevin. She decided to go wait upstairs with, to at least say hi to everyone and have that done. When they reached William's apartment, JJ greeted them at the door.

The entire scene felt so domestic that anyone who didn't know her would have thought that she was living there as well. She had on an apron and had obviously been cooking. She took their coats, indicated where the bathrooms were, gave them a quick but full tour of the apartment before offering them something to drink and asking to William to come say hi to his guests.

"I'm so glad you guys came!" He said as he quickly hugged them and shook Kevin's hand. "You are?"

"He's my plus one," Penelope answered for him, proudly.

"Good. You're alone Emily?" And before she could answer, he continued. "Because Aaron is coming, too, and I'm sure he'd prefer to stay with you rather than my little sister, as lovely as she is."

"Lovely, yes…" Emily laughed awkwardly. "Uhm, no. I'm actually expecting someone. He told me he'd arrive a bit later."

"Oh, that's good, too. Well, you guys can help yourself to all the food and drinks you want. JJ and I spent the entire afternoon in the kitchen."

As JJ blushed lightly, Emily winked at her. But the blonde simply looked down and hushed William before sending him to go talk to Morgan and his lady friend.

"Get your head out of the gutter, Em."

"Sure," she answered nonchalantly. She checked her phone and saw what time it was. "Oh, uh, I have to go back to my car, I, uh, forgot something. I'll be right back."

"Take this," JJ handed her a key. "Like that you don't have to wait for someone to beep you in.

She thanked her and turned to leave. But before she reached the door, she heard Caroline's laugh. It instantly burnt her ears. Maybe she wouldn't go back up after all.

Arriving downstairs, she got out of the building and found a spot close to a street lamp so she could see John coming. And so she waited, and waited, and after fifteen minutes, there was still no sign of John Cooley. She texted back JJ who was starting to worry, telling her that she had to make a quick stop at a drugstore for some urgent shopping. She hated lying but she hated even more waiting. She tried calling John for the umpteenth time but still nothing. His phone was turned off or he didn't want to answer.

She cursed herself as she started shivering. Who goes out at night and doesn't think of bringing a coat? But then, she remembered that she still had Aaron's in her car, which she was supposed to randomly drop on his arms when he will be reaching for a glass of whiskey or a petit canapé. And as she turned to the left to go to her car, she found herself face to face with the infamous coat borrower.

"Goodnight."

Yep. _Still throaty and broody as hell_, she thought.

"Hey," she lightly waved her hand at him.

"Are you waiting for someone?"

"Uhm, no," she lied.

"So why don't you get in then?" He asked as he pushed the lobby's door open, silently inviting her to come inside.

She gave a last lingering look at her phone before putting it away.

"Come on, hurry." She said as she passed by him and headed straight for the elevator.

Their ride went by faster than she thought and thank God, he didn't say a word so she didn't have to come up with some useless small talks to scare away the awkwardness. Sometimes it was better to just embrace it and endure it like a real woman.

He went into the apartment, held the door for her and as soon as she reached it, he walked away, greeted everyone as fast as he could and took a seat next to William. Apparently, he still hadn't resolved his antisocial issues.

The night went on, John didn't call, Emily drank along with her girl friends and they even danced for an extended period of time. William was handling the music until his sweet little sister came around to disturb everything with her hip-hop and electro songs. But it didn't last long because of the looks Aaron sent her, making her understand that nobody wanted to listen to that kind of music, since they weren't in a club, but rather in a small comity party at home. So they went back to listening to some rock songs and newfound bands.

At some point, every couple went to the rearranged living room that had turned into a dance floor and started swaying together. Emily felt terribly alone at that exact moment and wanted to go find John Cooley and make him eat his phone.

But she was also happy because she had had the occasion to talk to Spencer and Maeve. The brand new couple seemed to be doing just fine, and even better than most couples she knew. There was something in the way they looked at each other, the way they communicated that seemed so easy and natural. They seemed to perfectly fit in each other's world, and Emily just hoped that their relationship would keep on growing.

"Would you like to dance?"

She jerked her head up to look at the man addressing her, obviously surprised and brutally shaken out of her reverie.

"Mmh, no, I'm good here."

"Are you sure? You've been watching all of them dance since you've taken that seat. And you're balancing your foot in rhythm with the music."

"What? No, I'm not." She stepped her foot on the floor. "Are you spying on me?"

She took a sip of her drink and could have almost choke as she saw a subtle shade of pink creep its way to his cheeks.

"No, of course not!" He protested. "It's just that, well, we're both here alone so I thought now that they've all decided to act like couples, we could keep each other company." She opened her mouth but he kept on talking. "And you did mention that dancing was good to socialize."

She had to bite the inside of her mouth not to smile.

"I thought you were here with Caroline."

"What? No. She's…" he turned his head and took a quick glance at her. "Young. I mean, I see her grow up, like a sister."

"Then don't tell her that or you'll break her heart because she obviously has a thing for you." She saw that he was about to protest and just cut him short. "And don't try to tell me that you've never noticed. A blind guy would have seen it."

He shrugged and plunged his hands in his pants' front pockets. It looked like he was giving up on the idea of getting her to stand up so she decided to surprise him (and herself).

"So. That dance. Does your offer still stand?"

His mouth almost went up into a full smile before he extended a hand to her, that she (surprisingly) gladly grabbed. What was she doing anyway? She could of course blame it on the alcohol.

"This song is rather good."

"It is. The rhythm is nice." She waited for an answer. Nothing. "You're supposed to say something else, you know, to continue the conversation."

"I mentioned the music," as if it was some sort of achievement.

"Yes, well you could talk about the people surrounding us, William's new place… Or the weather."

"Then tell me what you'd like to talk about," he shrugged.

"Oh God, that's not how it works." She exhaled hard.

"I prefer smaller parties at home, with a few friends, rather than going out to some club. What about you?"

She had to hand it to him that at least, he was trying.

"Both, I guess. But I don't like those crowded clubs. You remember chez Miller's? That's the kind of place I like to go to. But yes, I also prefer such a sympathetic gathering at home."

"I've seen you a lot in the gardens at work. I didn't know you liked the outdoors so much."

"Oh I love it! It's such a peaceful place in the middle of that jungle."

"It was my idea, actually. I thought those buildings needed some natural grounds to give them some fresh air."

She took her lower lip between her teeth, subtly smiling at him. But before she could start enjoying the moment, she remembered something.

"And I've made some interesting encounters over there." She saw his until then relaxed face harbor a serious look. "John Cooley is such a nice guy. I don't understand why you didn't stay friends."

"I'm not sure he's aware of the definition of the word."

"Come on! You'll never talk to him again?" This was just ridiculous.

"Absolutely not. Why are you asking me that?"

"To see if I can see what kind of person you are." She saw his hands twitching by his sides. "But so far, I've just gotten mixed messages."

"I hope you'll be able to draw your own idea of myself with time."

She didn't answer, as she decided that their conversation was now other and tried to simply enjoy the dancing. He was rather good and it felt really nice to be there, surrounded by her friends, who were all in a happy place.

As the songs went by, they were getting closer and closer to each other but without ever touching one another. He'd occasionally made her twirl and the connection between their hands was the only contact they exchanged. But when she less expected, someone switched songs to Ray Charles' _A Girl I Used To Know_.

She slowly stopped moving, Aaron doing the same, and with a quick look around them, they saw that everyone was now slow dancing with each other, with the exception of Caroline who was sleeping on one of the couches.

"Can I?" He asked, his voice deep.

"Mmhmm," was everything she found to answer as once again, she started biting her lower lip.

Subtly, he put his hands around her waist and she folded hers around his neck. They initially kept a relatively safe distance between them, but as the song went on, he brought her closer and closer until her head rested against his shoulder.

She turned her head to look at the people surrounding them; trying to concentrate on them. But her brain didn't seem to be disposed to show good will at that precise moment.

Slowly, they simply started vanishing around her. She soon found herself alone with Aaron, sensually swaying to the great sound of the piano, the chorus, Ray's voice… It seemed to go on forever. And she wouldn't have minded if it had. She felt so warm, so secure, and most of all, so at peace, at this precise moment.

But it was brutally broken by a cold wave that came from the balcony's glass doors and went directly toward them. She lifted her head and ran her hands down his shoulders, pushing him away as subtly as possible. She felt rather than heard him clear his throat, but she kept observing her friends that were all going outside for a smoke, or to simply stare at the night sky.

"You want to go to the library? I saw he had a great LP collection, that included some Ray Charles." Her question came out of nowhere as she looked up at him, his eyes locked on hers and his hands slightly caressing her hips. "I'm surprised he listens to that kind of music."

"He doesn't. It was his father's collection. I do love it though."

She took it as a yes, grabbed his hand and dragged him through the hallway. He sat on the floor, close to the main shelf and waited for Emily. She was looking at the LPs, taking some of them under her free arm. After picking a handful of them, she sat down beside Aaron and handed the vinyl's over to him.

"I can't believe his LP player has an iPhone dock station!" She clapped her hands. "Choose one."

"You're being chivalrous?"

"Was that an attempt at a joke?" Her eyes opened wide and she started laughing.

"Yes, and it was a success, I see." He let out a little laugh before taking one of the LPs out of its sleeve and placing it on the player. "These are two of my favorite songs of his." And he turned the music on.

"Mmh, I'm surprised it's not Georgia. You seemed like such a Georgia kind of guy."

"And what is that kind of guy?"

"A lonely and classic guy."

"And what is a Crying Time and What Would I Do Without You kind of guy?"

"A much more interesting one," she answered after a few seconds of silence.

She didn't let him answer and paused the music.

"Would you do something for me?"

"If it's within my capacity."

"I think it is," she joked. "I saw ice cream in the freezer…"

Two minutes later, he was back with two cups of ice cream and spoons. He put the music back on and they started eating. He finished first and put his cup afar. As Emily took her last spoon, she squirmed and squealed.

"What was that?" He asked, half laughing, half frowning.

"My brain just froze!" She shut her eyes and hit her forehead with her hand. "Uuuuughhh."

"Put your thumb on the roof of your mouth," he said, on a serious tone.

"What?" She opened one eye and weirdly looked at him.

"Just do it," he urged.

"Okay, done," she tried to say, with her thumb in her mouth.

"Push down on it for a minute or so."

She did as said, and as the song went on, her head started to get better.

"Wow, what sort of black magic do you do?" She joked.

"I was an ice cream addict when I was a kid."

They remained silent for the following half hour, Emily started the LP again each time it ended, never getting tired of the two songs. At some point, she breathed heavily.

"I'm almost glad John didn't show up."

_Shit!_, she thought, as soon as the words got out of her mouth.

"John Cooley was the person you were waiting for?" He said it in such a tone that she immediately felt the need to hit him.

"Yes. He's really nice, I don't get what's your problem with him."

"My problem?" He let out a sarcastic laugh. "My problem is that he has no moral at all."

"Are you kidding me?!"

"No, he's ruthless."

"What? The man just came back from war. How can you judge a man who comes back from war?" She felt outraged.

"He probably only did it for the money since it's all he can think of!"

"You… _You_ are the one telling me that?"

"What are you implying?" His tone was severe. "You shouldn't go out with him, anyway. He's not worth of your trust."

"Who are you, my dad?" She straightened herself and moved a couple of inches away from him.

He clenched his fists, mentally hitting himself for ruining the moment. But he couldn't let her become friend with that individual. Nothing good could come out of it. But this wasn't the time nor the moment to try to reason with her… There was only one thing he wanted to do.

"I'm sorry."

He took her by surprise, and she lifted her eyes at him, astonished.

"What are you apologizing for? For being a complete jerk or trying to contr-"

She didn't have the time to finish her sentence that his mouth came crashing on hers. At first she tried to push him away but when she felt his hand run up her thigh, then cupping her side, and his tongue caressing her upper lip, she just gave in and closed her eyes.

Her hand came up to grab his hair and she opened her mouth to let him in. He tasted like whiskey and chocolate. She could have been repulsed only by the idea of associating the two. But strangely enough, on his tongue, it tasted heavenly. The bitter and the sweet. A mixture she didn't seem to get enough of.

With her free hand, she grabbed his shirt and slowly laid down, bringing him with her. He lifted her knee and positioned himself between her legs. Their tongues continued their unstoppable tango. It was abrupt and aggressive at first, but then they slowed down and it became more sensual. He took the time of caressing her waist, his hand timidly coming under her silky shirt, as she caressed his broad shoulders and started pulling his shirt out of his pants.

But they immediately stopped when they heard a door slam, both starting with surprise.

She pushed him to the side and sat up to look at the door. She let out a sigh of relief when she saw that it was still closed. When Aaron's hand came resting on her thigh again, she slapped it away and promptly stood up.

"Oh God… What did we do?" She grabbed her purse from the sofa and headed to the door.

"Wait, Emily…"

"No, no. Just… No."

And with that, she left.

He sat up and rested against the shelf, throwing back his head and shutting his eyes. He heard her say goodbye to everyone but didn't seem to be able to stand up. The front door slammed shut and he started hitting his head against the wood.

The music was still playing in the background. But soon, the LP came to an end and the player made its particular sound, signaling that the music was over. And apparently, it was the signal he needed because he quickly stood up, grabbed his coat and ran to the front door, saying a quick goodbye to the surprised people in the living room, and headed to the elevator.

He frenetically pressed the button but the elevator was already going down. So he didn't think twice and ran to the stairwells, going down as fast as he could. When he opened the door, Emily was pushing the lobby's front door open. As she passed it, and before it closed on him, he managed to grab her wrist.

"Emily, please."

She pushed hard on her wrist.

"Let me go."

"Of course, I'm sorry." _Idiot_, he thought as he immediately let go of her. "You can't just leave like that."

"What do you want me to do then, huh? Tell me."

"I… I don't know. We should talk."

"Aaron, you made it very clear that talking wasn't your forte."

He saw her shivering and tried to reach for her arm but she pulled away. His eyes locked on hers and they stared at each other. A million questions were going through his mind, through hers, a million of words to say, not to say. But before he could come up with something, she sighed and started to leave.

"Please," he tried to hold her back. "At least take my coat, you're freezing."

"Ugh. Okay." Great, now she was going to start collecting his clothes, she rolled her eyes.

He dropped his coat on her shoulders and took advantage of that little window to caress her shoulder.

"I'm sorry."

"No, no. I'm sorry. This was so, so… so… inappropriate," she lamented. "Goodnight, Aaron."

She ran to her car, leaving him alone, in the cold night, and started driving home.

"Goodnight, Emily," he whispered to himself.

**To be continued...**

* * *

**2A/N:** Thanks for reading! I hope you enjoyed the little surprise! It doesn't really stay faithful to the original story but you know, we're in 2013, it's a different era, the characters are older, etc, etc.

Anyway, we'll see if I can come up with a new chapter for next week.

Please, review if you've enjoyed it (or not).

And thanks for reading! x


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